The End of the First Quarter

Breathe in.  Breathe deep.  October is here.  The leaves are crisp, the Krispy Kreme donuts are being slopped with “joe”, and the first quarter of the first semester is winding down.  It’s at this point that class begins chugging along nicely, and that we should reflect on what we’ve learned thus far.

In English III, students have studied a ton of American Literature.  They’ve read speeches from Patrick Henry, Abraham Lincoln, Jonathan Edwards, and Martin Luther King, Jr.  They’ve read poetry from Anne Bradstreet, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and William Cullen Bryant.  They’ve read essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.  They’ve read short stories, excerpts, and books by the likes of Nathaniel Hawthorne, Olaudah Equiano, and Frederick Douglass.  And as if that wasn’t enough, they’ve also read/listened to rap music from Kanye West and Jay-Z.  This is aside from the projects, opinions, minor essays, tests, and quizzes that they’ve taken.

Pshew!

In Honors English IV, these soon to be high school graduates have also been hard at work.  They’ve read Old English and Middle English poetry – Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, the Dream of the Rood, and Caedmon’s Hymn.  They’ve read about King Arthur, Macbeth, and Satan.  They’ve checked out satirical pieces from Jonathan Swift and The Onion as well as more serious business from Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, and other political figures.

Again.  Pshew!

Yes – the students have been working hard.  And we’re only halfway there!

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