To be or not to be...

Hey! I'm spending this week at an AP English conference in Morehead, Kentucky. Today one of the pieces of literature we looked at was the famous "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet and it made me think of our summer reading. All incoming seniors should be reading The Stranger and typing your essay to hand in on the first day of school. AP students should also be reading Hamlet and watching a film version.

The famous speech in Prince Hamlet's words illustrate a crucial moment in his life. He's been dealt some serious blows and is struggling, for sure. In fact, I think he seems lost in a maze of questions. We'll analyze the monologue together in class. I hope you are getting excited about school starting back up. For you seniors, it will be "the beginning of the end!" Happy reading...

Email address

My email address at school has been updated! If you need to contact me, click here: Karin.Pulliam@frankfort.kyschools.us

Have a great summer!

Did you like 1984?

Check out this link to the forthcoming comic book version of 1984! The artist/writer has completed the first two chapters!

FHS Summer Assignment for Rising Seniors

                   

All incoming English IV students must read The Stranger by Albert Camus before returning to school. This book is available at FHS, if you would like to check out a copy which you will be responsible for returning in August.  

If you wish to purchase a copy, Poor Richard’s Book Store, Joseph Beth, and Barnes and Noble sell an inexpensive paperback edition. It can also be ordered from amazon.com or other booksellers on the internet. The benefit of purchasing your own copy is that you will be able to write and highlight in your own book.

1. READ  - As you read the novel, either highlight or flag (with post-its) significant quotations. Choose quotations that have meaning or that stand out to you. You need to mark at least 10 quotations in each Part of the book, for a total of 20 quotations.

2. WRITE - After reading the book carefully, each student must complete the following written assignment:

Events in a first-person perspective novel are sifted through the speaker’s narration. 

I. Discuss how Meursault views the world, and conversely 

II. how the world views Meursault.

Remember, good body paragraphs need a topic sentence and at least four more sentences that illustrate and support the topic sentence. 

Format: double-spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, 1-2 pages.

Please purchase the following supplies for class:

• Single subject spiral or composition notebook
• Plastic 1” or 1 ½” binder with dividers
• Lined filler paper and pens
• Flash drive

AP English students, read on...

In addition to The Stranger, all AP English students must read Hamlet by William Shakespeare. I strongly encourage you to watch a live performance or a DVD of Hamlet (there are several versions). Know who the characters are and how they relate to each other. Know the major plot events. Know who dies, how, and when!

Feel free to contact me over the summer with questions or concerns: Karin.Rademaker@jefferson.kyschools.us

Senior English Final

When you are done with the multiple choice portion of your exam, hand it in and pick up a copy of the essay portion of the exam.

Click on the link here to write your analytical essay. Mrs. Pulliam has already put together your Works Cited page for you. Compose your MLA-formatted essay on the Word document, and then simply delete any works from the list you did not cite in your essay.

Congratulations, Swashbucklers!

A huge thank you and congratulations to all the students and their families who were involved in our recent production of The Pirates of Penzance! The time, energy, blood, sweat, and tears you invested in putting on a great show did not go unnoticed by your audience! You should be very proud! Seniors, we love you and we will miss you!

AP English students

Here's the link I told you about in class. Click here to read all of the open-ended (question 3) prompts:

http://homepage.mac.com/mseffie/AP/APOpenQuestions.html

Wild Spring Break Fun

I'm sure none of us planned on spending spring break with hats and gloves on to protect us from these sub-freezing temperatures! For those of you who were lucky to get out of town and find a sunny beach somewhere, stop gloating! I thought I might mention some of what I've been doing since we've been away from school:

I've been reading a really interesting book called The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. It talks about different people who become great at what they do, from Brazilian soccer players to Shakespeare, to the Z-boys in California. They become great through deep practice, focusing on a skill over and over and over again. It's not just trial and error, it turns out. It's a substance that forms in our brains called myelin, which acts as an insulator for our neurons. It helps them to fire faster and more frequently.

This also explains why, when we don't practice something, our skills diminish. I don't know though, I kind of like to let some of that myelin melt away when we're not in school. Isn't that what breaks are for?  ;)

Alice Article on Victorian Web

Seniors, go to http://www.victorianweb.org/ to find loads of interesting articles about the Victorian Period.
Click on "Authors" and then "Lewis Carroll." Click on "Social History."
Read a short article of interest to you. We'll use your article in class tomorrow!
AP Students - comment below on your article and how it connects to your reading of Alice's Adventures...

Welcome, Class of 2011!

Hello students and friends! I've decided to move my online headquarters to this blog to make it easier for my students to find me and to provide an online forum that my students will be able to use on a regular basis.

The title of this blog is "Green Eggs and Ham with Pull I Am" for several reasons. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss has always been one of my favorite books. In it, the main character does not want to try those green eggs and ham, no matter how many different ways Sam I Am tries to dish them up. He will not eat them with a fox, he will not eat them in a box... You know how it goes. And what happens at the end of the book? The main character finally takes a risk and tries the meal before him, and what happens? He likes it! This book teaches us such a great life lesson. I think we're all resistant to change. The unfamiliar is scary and sometimes even intimidating, but if we are willing to take a risk and try new things we are often surprised to find out that new things can be wonderful!

I've been teaching English for while now, and I love literature and writing with a passion! However, often the students who enter my classroom aren't always the world's biggest fans of my subject. Never fear: I'm persistent (some call it stubborn), and like Sam I Am, I'm willing to try almost anything to get my students to try challenging reading and writing. I call this "Creative Persistence." I think it's a great way to live life! Don't ever let the unknown discourage you. You never know how much you might love that novel, poem, play, or composition... that is, you won't know until you try it!

Of course, it's just a fun coincidence that my new last name is Pulliam = Pull I Am. In my classroom, we'll try green eggs and ham all year. =)

Believe it or not, seniors, you have just a few more months before you graduate from high school and begin the new chapter of your lives! Check back frequently to keep up with me!