Friday, December 18
Students were reminded of the outside reading assignment due January 15, which is the only assignment for the break. The assignment sheet is posted on the Documents page of the class website for students who may have misplaced their copy. Some students checked out outside reading books.
Students received their grade sheets for the culture box asignment and some students retrieved their boxes.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Thursday, December 17
Students took a brief open-book quiz over the excerpts from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, and we graded it together. The religious "disputations" which were a factor in the teenage Franklin being forced to leave Boston were explained more fully by a handout with further passages by Franklin explaining his heterodoxy. A second handout on the religious views of other leading figures of the Revolutionary period gave further background on the intellectual milieu of the time.
Students took a brief open-book quiz over the excerpts from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, and we graded it together. The religious "disputations" which were a factor in the teenage Franklin being forced to leave Boston were explained more fully by a handout with further passages by Franklin explaining his heterodoxy. A second handout on the religious views of other leading figures of the Revolutionary period gave further background on the intellectual milieu of the time.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Wednesday, December 16
We compared the religious outlook of Jonathan Edwards in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" with the outlook of many of the founding fathers of the republic who consciously chose to forbid the establishment of religion by the government and to enshrine religious freedom in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
HW due Thursday:
Read the selection from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography in Elements of Literature, pp. 86-94. I will have some questions for you.
We compared the religious outlook of Jonathan Edwards in "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" with the outlook of many of the founding fathers of the republic who consciously chose to forbid the establishment of religion by the government and to enshrine religious freedom in the First Amendment to the Constitution.
HW due Thursday:
Read the selection from Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography in Elements of Literature, pp. 86-94. I will have some questions for you.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Tuesday, December 15
Students, using their notes from Monday, took a brief quiz over resources of the King County Library System; we then graded the quizzes in class.
We then (re)turned our attention to "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," analyzing the metaphors and similes Jonathan Edwards uses to drive home his single, repeated theme: how we sinners are saved from hell, if at all, only by the freely given grace of God. All the central metaphors (fiery pit, flood, straining bow) all show God's hand as the only force holding back the destructive power of nature which impels us to eternal damnation. We compared Edwards's perspective on Man, Nature and God to T. Jefferson's in the Declaration of Independence (p. 116) where man is not saved from (his) nature by grace, but where nature (through the use of man's reason) is the vehicle for understanding God's handiwork, and therefore God himself.
Students, using their notes from Monday, took a brief quiz over resources of the King County Library System; we then graded the quizzes in class.
We then (re)turned our attention to "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," analyzing the metaphors and similes Jonathan Edwards uses to drive home his single, repeated theme: how we sinners are saved from hell, if at all, only by the freely given grace of God. All the central metaphors (fiery pit, flood, straining bow) all show God's hand as the only force holding back the destructive power of nature which impels us to eternal damnation. We compared Edwards's perspective on Man, Nature and God to T. Jefferson's in the Declaration of Independence (p. 116) where man is not saved from (his) nature by grace, but where nature (through the use of man's reason) is the vehicle for understanding God's handiwork, and therefore God himself.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Friday, December 12
Mr. P read Johnathan Edwards' famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" aloud to the class.
HW due Monday:
Answer question 4 on page 83 concerning metaphors and similes in the sermon, and add to that question the following: What do all these metaphors and similes (at least four) have in common. Type your answer.
Mr. P read Johnathan Edwards' famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" aloud to the class.
HW due Monday:
Answer question 4 on page 83 concerning metaphors and similes in the sermon, and add to that question the following: What do all these metaphors and similes (at least four) have in common. Type your answer.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday, December 10
"Write it up! Write it down!"
Students completed an in-class exercise in levels of diction. As yesterday's lesson established language use is less a matter of right and wrong than of appropriate and inappropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
Today's worksheet (see Documents page) required students to rewrite four passages in contemporary Standard English. In two cases this meant rephrasing them less formally and more simply; in the other two it meant rephrasing them more formally.
"Write it up! Write it down!"
Students completed an in-class exercise in levels of diction. As yesterday's lesson established language use is less a matter of right and wrong than of appropriate and inappropriate to purpose, audience, and context.
Today's worksheet (see Documents page) required students to rewrite four passages in contemporary Standard English. In two cases this meant rephrasing them less formally and more simply; in the other two it meant rephrasing them more formally.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wednesday, December 9
Taking off from Tuesday's homework assignment concerning American English in the Revolutionary period and the disdainful attitude of English language purists, we examined certain processes of linguistic change and the demands of linguistic conservatism. Language isn't so simple as right and wrong usage -- usage has always changed and always will -- but it is nonetheless vital to develop an awareness of Standard English practice and be able to use appropriate language in any given context.
Taking off from Tuesday's homework assignment concerning American English in the Revolutionary period and the disdainful attitude of English language purists, we examined certain processes of linguistic change and the demands of linguistic conservatism. Language isn't so simple as right and wrong usage -- usage has always changed and always will -- but it is nonetheless vital to develop an awareness of Standard English practice and be able to use appropriate language in any given context.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Tuesday, December 8
We compared our own ethnic and national heritages, as evidenced by the culture box presentations, with data from the 2000 U.S. Census.
We then moved on to the homework assignment, and began to talk about the processes of linguistic change and particularities of American English. Students tuened in the homework.
Mr. P acknowledged that the questions in the textbook may have been confusing and indicated that all serious efforts would receive full credit. Today's homework will also be accepted on Wednesday.
We compared our own ethnic and national heritages, as evidenced by the culture box presentations, with data from the 2000 U.S. Census.
We then moved on to the homework assignment, and began to talk about the processes of linguistic change and particularities of American English. Students tuened in the homework.
Mr. P acknowledged that the questions in the textbook may have been confusing and indicated that all serious efforts would receive full credit. Today's homework will also be accepted on Wednesday.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
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