Weekend homework.

Vignette assignment details here: Painting from the Palette of Memory. Read an example here: "Fly With These Birds."

Cisneros on "Talking Volumes."

Last April, author Sandra Cisneros and host Kerri Miller met before a full house of students and adults at Washburn High School in Minneapolis for MPR's "Talking Volumes." Cisneros' groundbreaking work, The House on Mango Street, was published 25 years ago. Singer and spoken word artist Dessa also performs.

Listen here:

Coming-of-death musing.

According to The Death Clock, I am going to die at the age of 74 on Sunday, September 19, 2055. I was able to stave death off 15 years simply by changing my "Mode" from "Pessimistic" to "Normal."

Q3, week 2 skedj.

Monday.
In class: Why use poetic language?
Homework: HMS pp. 39-64 (26).

Day 2.
In class: Narrative shift.
Homework: HMS pp. 65-87 (23).

Day 3.
In class: Shoes, trees, and home.
Homework: HMS pp. 88-110 (23).

Friday.
In class: HMS wrap up.
Homework: Another vignette. See example.

On memoir.

A recent New Yorker article explores the history of memoir and addresses the blurring between reality and fiction. Read it here: "But Enough About Me".

An announcement from FLASH.

FLASH is well into third gear: We have editors, editors-in-chief, a submission process, even a Facebook page. Now, we need your help to garner more submissions.

If you write poems, stories, or thought pieces--either for class or leisure--please send Word documents to FLASH at flash@blakeschool.org. Every submission gets a note with respectful feedback from our board of editors.

Congrats to the editorial board, who is made up of the following students: Heather Pearson, Babs Laco, Emily Wells, Kate Abram, Krista Rud, Frieda Yeung, Alex Beard, Annabel Cater, Emma Woodsworth, and Masha Berman. At the last meeting on January 15, the board elected Jacqui Crane, Carolyn Winslow, and Shaina Rud as editors-in-chief. Congrats to them as well.

This next week, FLASH is having a poetry contest. Winners get Chipotle gift certificates; hence, it's a Chipoetry contest! Again, email submissions as Word documents to flash@blakeschool.org.

Who Dat?

Mango in the news.

• Cisneros critical of Chicago despite Mayor Daley's praise of Mango St.
• "The Story Teller," adapted from the introduction to the recently published 25th Anniversary Edition of The House on Mango Street.
• And this, from a while back: A San Antonio Journal article about an uproar over Cisneros' house paint selection: "Novelist's Purple Palette is Not to Everyone's Taste."

Q3, week 1 skedj.

Monday.
MLK Day; no school.

Day 2.
In class: Intro to House on Mango Street and vignettes.
Homework: HMS introduction and pp. 3-13.

Day 3.
In class: Vignette study.
Homework: HMS pp. 14-38 (25).

Friday.
In class: Like, like, like . . .
Homework: Using one of your journal prompts, or starting a new one, write a vignette of no more than 250 words (typed, double-spaced) that addresses a personal experience of yours. Use poetic language with intention. This might include imagery (sensory details), figurative language (metaphor, simile, symbol), or repetition of words or sounds (alliteration, consonance, assonance, anaphora). Finally, give your vignette an appropriate, creative title. I'll take a hard copy.

Q2, week 9 skedj.

Monday & Tuesday.
In class: Finish Vietnam films critique.
Homework: All missing work needs to be in by Thursday. Bring House on Mango Street beginning next week.

Wednesday & Thursday.
Project Days.

Friday.
Grade Activities Day.

The Year in Language.

Check out this New York Times article on new words and phrases coined in 2009: "The Buzzwords of 2009."

Q2, week 8 skedj.

NOTE: A reminder to bring The Things They Carried to class this week for an annotations check.

Monday - Friday.
In class: Vietnam films critique.
Homework: TTC essay: A Soldier's Baggage, due before class on Friday via Turn It In.