Carlos Barrera

Tuesday April 1st American Lit Honors

Today in class we will study "Immigration".

We will listen to an NPR piece about Immigration and Carlos Mencia-listen to it at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5478147

Then we will read two poem by Pat Mora:

(there is an assignment on www.quizlab )

Legal Alien

Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural,
able to slip from "How's life?"
to "Me'stan volviendo loca,"
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
able to order in fluent Spanish
at a Mexican restaurant,
American but hyphenated,
viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,
perhaps inferior, definitely different,
viewed by Mexicans as alien,
(their eyes say, "You may speak
Spanish but you're not like me")
an American to Mexicans
a Mexican to Americans
a handy token
sliding back and forth
between the fringes of both worlds
by smiling
by masking the discomfort
of being pre-judged
Bi-laterally.

Immigrants

wrap their babies in the American flag,
feed them mashed hot dogs and apple pie,
name them Bill and Daisy,
buy them blonde dolls that blink blue
eyes or a football and tiny cleats
before the baby can even walk,
speak to them in thick English,
hallo, babee, hallo,
whisper in Spanish or Polish
when the babies sleep, whisper
in a dark parent bed, that dark
parent fear, “Will they like
our boy, our girl, our fine American
boy, our fine American girl?”

We will begin viewing "Real Women Have Curves"

You can get ahead for Wednesday and Thursday (timed write) by going to these documents:

For Thursday's timed-write (a quizlab exists for this)

http://osbornehighschool.typepad.com/barrera/files/on_seeing_england_for_the_first_time.doc

For Wednesday (a quizlab exists for this)

http://osbornehighschool.typepad.com/barrera/files/Cofer_-_The_myth_of_the_Latin_women_PDF.pdf

Copy of Quizlab for Cofer's "Myth of the Latin Woman"

http://osbornehighschool.typepad.com/barrera/files/myth_of_latin_women_multiple_choice.doc

Copy of Quizlab for Kincaid's "On Seeing England for the First Time"

http://osbornehighschool.typepad.com/barrera/files/on_seeing_england_for_the_first_time_multiple_choice.doc

Monday March 31 American Lit Honors

Today in class we will go over revision strategies of our Thursday Timed Writes. Then, we will type our revised essay.

This week we will read pieces on the issue of Immigration. We will view the film "Real Women Have Curves".

Mr. B

Get a Voki now!

Wed. March 26 American Lit Honors

Today in class, we will view the end of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. We will begin a poster in a group that speculates what happens to George after the story ends.

Tomorrow in class we will read a piece from Joan Didion's "Los Angeles Notebook." We will be posting the timed write on to www.quizlab on Monday.

To prepare for this by reading the prompt and piece or by viewing at student sample essay go to this page:

http://osbornehighschool.typepad.com/barrera/2008/03/thursday-marc-2.html

Thursday March 27 Timed-write

These two documents are to prepare you for or for making up the timed write on Thursday March 27, 2008.

This is the essay prompt and reading

Download joan_didionlos_angeles_notebook.doc

This is a sample student essay.

Download los_angeles_notebook_student_sample_essay.doc

There will be a place to post this on quizlab.

Mon-Tues March 24-25 Honors American Lit

This week we are reading from John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men and Horton Foote's screenplay of Of Mice and Men. We are also viewing the 1992 Gary Sinese directed film "Of Mice and Men".

 

Thursday March 20 American Lit Honors

Today in class we will listen to an NPR piece entitled:

Female Soldier Reflects on Injuries, Military Service

you can listen to it at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15038708

Then we will read the story "Ambush" by Tim O'Brien from The Things They Carried. A summary of the story can be found below O'Brien's picture. We will conclue viewing the TV-14 version of Platoon.

The author Tim O'Brien is pictured below:

www.stfrancis.edu/en/student/O'Brien/index.htm

Ambush summary:

As a nine-year-old, Tim's daughter Kathleen asked Tim if he ever killed anyone. She thought that since he wrote so many stories about war, he must have killed someone. He told her he hadn't, but now he wants to tell the story of what really happened, as if he was talking to her as an adult. He begins:

The man was small and thin, and as he walked down the trail Tim saw him, was afraid, and threw a grenade at him.

Tim elaborates: he was on watch in the last hours of the night; everyone else was asleep. He saw the man coming and, automatically, without feeling anything personal or political, he threw the grenade. He saw the man start to run, and then in a puff of smoke he was dead. Tim can't forget it, and even today he sometimes sees the young man come down the trail, smile, and continue on the path, back into the fog.

Wed. March 19 2008 American Lit Honors

Last week's quizlabs are due this Friday. The Things They Carried and Platoon quizlabs are due next week.

Today in class we will listen to a piece from PBS' Frontline series entitled "The Soldier's Heart" . View it here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/heart/

Then we will listen to a song called "Devils and Dust" by Bruce Springsteen.

Download a copy of the lyrics here:

Download devils_and_dust_by_bruce_springsteen.doc

We will read another story from The Things They Carried called "How to Tell a True War Story". Then we will contine viewing clips from (edited TV-14 version) of Platoon.

Bruce Springsteen performing Devils and Dust:

http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/ap/9993b601-9971-4f94-8a11-00db2a9d6828.widec.jpg

Thurs-Fri March 13-14 American Lit Honors

Marine Sgt. Griselda Benavides worked in communications during her deployment to Anbar province.

Yesterday in class, Blocks 2 and 3 worked on a 40-minute timed write that asked for the purpose of Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural address and analyzing his rhetorical strategies he used to achive this. Block 4 analyzed a letter written by Chris Taylor, of Platoon, also identifying the purpose and analyzing the rhetorical strategies.We will type final draft revisions Monday in the computerlab.

Today we begin class by listening to this NPR piece:

On the Ground in Iraq: Three Women's Stories

found at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14901578

Download women_in_combat_on_the_ground_in_iraq.doc

Then we will continue reading "Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. Finally, we'll view clips from edited (TV-14 version) of Platoon.

Wednesday March 12 2008 American Lit Honors

in class we will start our Vietnam War/War unit. We will listen to the song "Masters of War" by Bob Dylan. You can find the lyrics here:

http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/masters.html

You can dowload the powerpoint we will view here:

Download vietnam.ppt

We will begin to read the first story in the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It is called "The Things They Carried." Then we will view the opening scenes in the TV-14 edited version of Platoon. The quizlabs for both of these are up at www.quizlab.com

These handouts will help with the Who's Who Platoon and The Things They Carried:

Download platoon_characters.doc

Download the_things_they_carried_characters.doc

Monday-Tuesday March 10-11 American Lit Honors

We are in the computerlab today. There are several quizlabs due--check out the quizlab calendar:

www.quizlab.com

Tomorrow you are in the same rooms you were in last Wednesday. Copies of this week's handouts:

Download lincoln_2nd_inaug.rtf

Download chris_taylors_letter.doc

Download didls_organizer.doc

Thursday March 5th American Lit Honors

Today in class we will listen to another song by Lila Downs, then we will hear an NPR radio piece about her that you can hear by going to:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1127992

You can hear the songs at:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6444880

Then we will be doing a 40-minute timed write on "Days of Obligation" by Richard Rodriguez.

Tomorrow's scantron test for Blocks 2 and 3 are on: On Being a Cripple by Nancy Mair, On Taming a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua, from Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin, and On Bird, Bird-Watching, and Jazz by Ralph Ellison. These can be found on www.quizlab.com

Tomorrow's Scantron test for Block 4 are on: The Frida Kahlo Poem, the Charlie Parker Poem, Sonnet in Primary Colors (by Rita Dove), and fiction about Frida Kahlo. These can be found on www.quizlab.com

The Singer Lila Downs:

Tuesday 3/4 American Lit

Today we will start our new unit---Frida Kahlo.

We will listen to a song "Cumbia de Mole" by Lila Downs

We will read the poem "Sonnet in Primary Colors" by Rita Dove

Download sonnet_in_primary_colors.doc

We will view paintings by Frida Kahlo. We will view a clip of the PBS documentary "The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo" and "Frida" (the edited TV-14 version from Oxygen Channel).

Tomorrow in class you will read THE FRIDA KAHLO POEMS  (http://www.exilequarterly.com/loncovs/garebian272.htmland ) and HOW TO TAME A WILD TONGUE by Gloria Anzaldúa .

Download these here:

Download the_frida_kahlo_poems.doc

Download gloria_anzaldua.doc

Download ap_multiple_choice_how_to_tame_a_wild_tongue_by_gloria_anzalda.doc

Monday March 3 2008 American Lit Honors

We are in the computerlab--you are typing timed write essay and posting it onto www.quizlab.com

Then, there are assignments due:

Assignments due tonight Monday March 3, 2008:

SOAPStone Charlie Parker Poem

Literary Terms

Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin (will count as a test in the Projects/Test section of gradebook)

AP Multiple Choice Questions-Notes of a Native Son (not 4th Block)

AP Multiple Ch-Ralph Ellision's On Bird, Bird-Watching, and Jazz (not 4th Block)

AP passage practice-Ralph Ellison's Living with Music (not 4th Block)