There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.

Blog 13/Farwell AP Lit Blog

DUE SUNDAY NOVEMBER 15th.

Advice for Graduating Students (LSU Professor M. Chance) 

10. Don't forget your alma mater. 

9. Start a savings and investment plan as soon as possible. Learn as much as you can about investing. You'll be the envy of your friends and relatives. Share your knowledge with others. 

8. Work hard and pursue the acquisition of wealth. It is not a sin to want to become rich. It is only a sin to hurt others while becoming rich. Wealth earned by honesty and hard work is a virtue. While acquiring that wealth you have helped others, and you can continue to help others such as by providing jobs and giving to charities. Start working toward building wealth. Live within your means. Use debt in moderation. And don't confuse income with wealth. To get you started, read the book The Millionaire Next Door. Above all, don't try to impress other people with your money. 

7. Be your own person. What other people think of you is not as important as what you think of you. But set a high standard for yourself. 

6. Understand that to become successful requires hard work. It is like a successful career. It doesn't just happen. You have to make it happen. 

5. Set a good example for your children. Most of you will someday become parents. Start getting ready right now by working toward setting a good example for the children you will someday have. Don't do anything you wouldn't want them to do someday. Be a parent they can be proud of. 

4. Don't forget the importance of reading. Read something interesting, something entertaining and something inspirational. In the latter category, I might suggest the Bible/Koran/Torah or something like Chicken Soup for the Soul, anything by Dr. Seuss, or the Diary of Anne Frank.

3. Never forget the Golden Rule. Appreciate and recognize others who practice it.

2. Take good care of yourself. Your health is a valuable asset. Never forget that you can lose it in an instant. But don't go around worrying about bad things happening. Things are rarely as good as they seem, but fortunately rarely as bad. 

1. Never lose your honor. You can never get it back. 

For the final blog, post your own Top Ten list. The list should be specific to Harrison High School and/or our AP Lit class. It is okay to be funny, but remember to exercise a certain amount of restraint and be respectful :-) Though I will delete the comments for past blog posts, I will leave this one for future classes to read, so think of this as an opportunity for you to leave an impression and/or give the upcoming class advice. The following is a collection of David Letterman's "Top Ten" lists which dates all the way back to 1993!

  Letterman's Top Ten

Blog 12/Tomorrow

 

Earl Nightingale: You become what you think about.

  

Mark Victor Hansen: You control your future, your destiny. What you think about comes about. By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands - your own. 

Douglas Everett: There are some people who live in a dream world, and there are some who face reality; and then there are those who turn one into the other. 

Oscar Wilde: One's real life is often the life that one does not lead. 

Consider the above quotes. Many of you are about to embark on your life after high school and choose a path in life.To what degree is the path you choose your own? Explain. (150 words or so) If you fail on this path, who will help you? How will you make it? (150 words or so)

Blog 11/Take II

Respond to THREE of the following questions in no less than 250 words. 

1.  If you truly love someone, you trust the person completely.

 2.  You cannot love someone and also be jealous of him or her. 

3.  People more readily believe something bad about a person than something good.

4.  If you don’t talk about others, others will not talk about you.

5.  One’s reputation can easily be destroyed by a rumor.

6.  If one works hard to maintain his or her reputation, it will not be destroyed.

7.  Rumors are for the most part untrue.

8.  Anyone’s reputation can be destroyed by another spreading rumor and gossip.

9.  Those who gossip are usually jealous of those they gossip about.

10.  A mixed marriage is more susceptible to outside pressures than is one of common races, religious beliefs and backgrounds.

11.  In marriage, many men will excuse their own unfaithfulness but will condemn their wives for doing the same thing.

12.  Being unfaithful to one’s marriage partner is an unforgivable act.

13.  A man who would beat his wife is not a man.

14.  Even the most honorable of people can be changed into violent murderers given the circumstances.

15.  Some people are simply evil and nothing can change them.

16.  It is possible to misjudge even those who are closest to us.

 

Return later in the week to respond to a classmate's post.

REMEMBER TO SELECT YOUR IRA NOVEL CHOICE.

Novel choice is due tomorrow.

Blog 10/Integrating the Arts and Fiction

Choose a poem or song that you believe highlights some aspect of one of the novels/plays you read this semester. First, post the poem or song and then briefly explore its subject and tone and then make relevant connections to such elements as the novel’s themes, literary techniques, characters, setting, and imagery.  Return later in the week to respond to a classmate's post.

I just discovered Jason Grey and I absolutely love his music.  Interestingly, he has speech impediment and stutters badly, but when he's on stage he shines!  I thought his song "Down to the River" was so perfect for The Awakening that I actually listened to it and typed the lyrics, since they're not on the net.  The bold text-lyrics reflect the novel so well.  I feel as if Edna could be the speaker!  Enjoy ~

I am going to the river. I’m gonna lay my body down.

Let it take me where it will as it picks my feet up off the ground.

I may get carried away, as the water leads the dance,

But I go to the river because I’m ready to take a chance.

 

CHORUS

 

I’m going down, down.

I’m going down.

Down to the river,

I’m gonna let it carry me.

Oh yes I go down to the river.

I’m gonna let it cover me.

 

I used think the river was a barrier to cross—

till I knelt by the water and found a good place to be lost.

See I’ve got a need to surrender to something bigger than me.

So I go to the river to let it set me free.

 

Chorus

 

And when I stand before the river I will strip down to my skin

because I believe when I jump the water will take me in—

Cleanse me, carry me, upon its back deliver me.

Down the river to the sea

Down the river to the sea

Chorus

I’m going down, down.

I’m going down,

down to the river

I’m gonna let it carry me.

Oh yes I go down to the river

I’m gonna let it cover me

I’m going down to the river, yeah

Would you like to go with me?

 

Though the path may twist and turn, the course will not be swayed.

The river knows where it’s going and it always finds the way.