Mulhern's English Site

IMPORTANT REMINDERS Pay attention to the blue dates within the posts. Ignore the black date above the post. You must follow the exact directions in each post. If you do not, points will be taken off your work.

Important Points to Remember You must attend class. Not attending class may have serious repercussions--graduation, transcript for college (colleges do not like when final-semester seniors skip classes.) They DO check your attendance record and grades to ensure you are a serious student. You must be on time for class. Excessive tardies will also have a negative influence on how colleges perceive your work ethic, sincerity, and commitment. You must be quiet. A Study Hall means you study for other classes, read a book for pleasure, or do other tasks associated with school and your future. A Study Hall does NOT mean you can go to other classes or wander around the school. The curriculum is studying and preparing for your future. Study Hall requires quiet and respect for your peers' work. This is not a time for random conversations. You are still in school.  A Study Hall does not mean you play games or watch movies.

https://eure2011lang.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/stephanie-ericsson-the-ways-we-lie.pdf Read the text. Then do the following:

Link to reading selection:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/merging-of-mind-and-machine/

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kd5ATe9WN_Oyys_IwGg8S6BgdC-rx8dSOV_tToTt65M/edit?usp=sharing

Here is the link for the selection:  http://www.davidbrin.com/fiction/realitycheck.html

Requirements for Essay Typed, double-spaced, 12-point Times Roman or Arial font Research Paper format--MLA style. At least three pages of the actual essay (to the bottom of the third page). No more than three internal citations. You can use any of the texts or links below or sources from your own research into the topic. Original creative examples from your reflection (besides external sources) with excellent elaboration. Remember, your unique perspective is what makes your essay stand out. A Works Cited page. No cover page.

Peer Editing—Research Paper (Put a checkmark at the end of each bulleted point as you review.) Staple this sheet to the front of the paper when you have completed the editing process. Write "Peer Editor" and your name at the top of your classmate's paper.

You and a partner or partners (a maximum of three students in a group) will read this famous story in a "reciprocal reading" activity. I will explain this activity in class. Click on the link, read the story, and then answer the questions at the end. You may all work on the answers together, but you must have a copy of your responses in your binder. Always provide textual evidence when possible. Be prepared to facilitate a scholar-led discussion.

Read classic short stories. Read classic stories on handout. Follow the directions. Try to come up with reasons they are classic stories.

Meet with your partner in class and, if needed, in Google Chat, Google Meet, or Zoom. One of you, a facilitator, must set up the meetings and convey the information to your peers for the Google or Word document you can all collaborate on. You will also have time to work on this assignment in class.

Collaborative Essay--Love Theme in Short Stories Listen and write down the names of the peers you will be working with on this assignment. If you choose to write this essay with peers, see this link: https://scholarmulhern.blogspot.com/2020/10/collaborative-essay.html (Remember, you may choose to write this essay on your own.)

  Read and annotate the text (I distributed the handout); complete the assignment of a handwritten MLA-style document for important reading questions (see Canvas and also the post on question types on this website). You must create the answers and provide textual support. Also, include a vocabulary section--at least five words defined,  not those defined by the book editor . You must create questions and answers modeled after those specific question types in Canvas, Exercise Two ( not random questions ). You should also have an annotated paper document of  the story. (Take pictures of your documents and upload them onto your laptop computer.)

                                        You can find this reading selection in the electronic textbook, Unit 5.

Complete this phrase ("English likes . . . ) as many times as you can with the "English mantras" (concepts, principles, generalizations) you have learned. Try to create more mantras:

Read and annotate the text, as well as complete the usual assignment of a Word document for important reading questions (Canvas) and answers (with vocabulary). You should also, as usual, have a Word document for the annotations or a printed-out copy of the story annotated.

Click on this link for the reading selection: https://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Poe/Pit_Pendulum.pdf

This text is in the electronic textbook (Unit 5).

Write an essay comparing and contrasting the theme of evil in two short stories we have read in this class. Explain the nature of evil in each of the readings. How does each writer's use of literary elements contribute to the type of evil he/she is describing? What is the message of each story? Focus on similarities and differences in the stories. As appropriate, include analysis of how different literary elements contribute to your thesis. Late work is never accepted in this class. You get a grade of zero. Remember, plagiarism is a serious offense. A plagiarism program will be utilized. You may write this paper collaboratively. See the following link:  https://scholarmulhern.blogspot.com/2020/10/collaborative-essay.html

https://cshshonorsiii.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/where-are-you-going.pdf

  PREPARE FOR THE NEW DIGITAL SAT (MARCH 6) Dear Scholars, Beginning February 20, we will start preparing for the new Digital SAT, which differs greatly from the previous SAT.

Read this excerpt from Jacob Riis's book on tenement life in New York City. Riis published his book in 1890 after he spent time as a police reporter in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a poor area crowded with immigrants. Click on the link.

You can order your book online through the North Campus bookstore. Call the bookstore for directions on how to do this. You may also go to the bookstore and pick up your text in person. Bring a copy of your schedule. Tell the people at the bookstore you are a dual-enrollment student at ATC High School with Professor Mulhern. 

http://bentonenglish.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/night-calls.pdf Read and annotate the story, as well as complete the usual assignment of a Word document for important reading questions (Canvas) and answers (with a vocabulary section). You should also, as usual, have a Word document for the annotations (or take a picture of the annotated printout and upload it to your laptop computer). Remember, always have electronic and printed-out copies of all assignments for the entirety of the semester. They could be checked at any time for a grade.

IMPORTANT I have repeatedly told you that assignments should be kept in your binder for the entirety of the semester. I have also told you many times that even if you are absent, you are responsible for copying the agenda and the W.O.D. activity for the day(s) you missed. Of course, you would create your own original sentence. These agendas or W.O.D. activities could also be checked at any time for a grade. Be sure you do all assignments and keep them in your binder always. 

When you watch a film in this class, you will usually have an activity to fulfill. This is one of those activities. On a lined piece of paper, write the following:

You will write a short film review ( at least a page and a half, typed, MLA format).

Please neatly handwrite this assignment using MLA format. Use correct capitalization, title format, and subtitle format. Points will be taken off for any mistakes in MLA format or careless grammatical and spelling errors.  You can find this reading selection in the electronic textbook, Unit 5.

Use the Search Box on this website to find the assignment posts for the first two readings below. You may handwrite annotations on printouts. If you ever need a printout, google the name of the text, the author's last name, the text title, "text," and "PDF." You must keep all work in your binder for the entirety of the semester (to be collected at any time).

Create an Important Reading Questions (with answers) Word document for The Declaration of Independence.   Centered title within the Word Document: Questions on The Declaration of Independence   (no ital., no underline, no bold, same size font as rest of text). Include cited quotations in your answers as textual support, as appropriate.  Create an Annotations Word document.  C entered title within the Word document: Annotations for The Declaration of Independence (no ital., no underline, no bold, same size font as rest of text). *You are never required to answer any questions or do any activities in the PDFs unless I tell you to do so. However, reviewing the questions and/or activities may help you understand the reading better.

Print out, read, and annotate the following article--"The Nature and Aim of Fiction.” ( https://wisdomhomeschooling.com/images/courses/content/creativewriting/CW-Week-13-reading.pdf )  For this reading, you can handwrite annotations on the article itself or take notes, indicating paragraph numbers. Upload a picture of your annotated text to your laptop computer. Print out, read, and annotate the following story. Be prepared for a possible quiz: https://repositorio.ufsc.br/bitstream/handle/123456789/160332/A%20good%20man%20is%20hard%20to%20find%20-%20Flannery%20O%27Connor.pdf . For this reading, follow the directions below:

  Rhetoric--the skillful use of literary elements to enrich the understanding, reading, and power of a text (communicated orally or in writing). Important Goals: Identify Critical Content and Explain Why Important. Examine Similarities and Differences Among Texts or Parts of a Text. All students are responsible for reading and annotating every text. See the due dates below. 

Exercise One Use this link to create the most common question types in the SAT Reading section. Apply them to the text you are reading.  Also, create the answers.  Be very specific. https://blog.prepscholar.com/breakdown-of-every-question-type-in-sat-reading-by-percentage Links to an external site.  

Look up the following literary terms. In your binder,  handwrite   the definition and an example  when appropriate (do at least twenty-two to thirty each night). Please note that usually assignments are required to be typed; however, because handwriting has been proven to help students remember better, for this assignment, I want you to write your work.

Print out and annotate the following story by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Highlight important sentences. If there is not enough room for annotations on the printout, write or type your notes in an MLA-formatted document, which you keep in your binder. Be able to explain how literary techniques (organization of plot, climactic moments, details, characterization, dialogue, imagery, mood/tone, shifts, setting, figurative language, connotations of diction, theme, similes, metaphors, etc.) contribute to this text. Indicate page numbers, paragraph numbers, and line numbers, as appropriate. Then do the "Shorter Analysis Activity" in an MLA-formatted document with numbered and titled sections:  https://scholarmulhern.blogspot.com/2019/11/analysis-of-text-shorter-version.html

Boston Harbor, Maurice Prendergast (1900-1905) Questions:   Historical Background to Puritans (134-136) 1. What are some of the positive qualities of the Puritans? 2. What was the Puritan attitude towards wealth?

Read this interesting account about Pilgrims/Puritans and disease: Click on the following link:  http://inthepastlane.com/of-plague-and-pilgrims-how-a-devastating-epidemic-shaped-the-first-thanksgiving-nov-18-2012/ Copy and paste the article into a Word Document and print out if you like. As you read, annotate and take notes. This assignment is optional.

A Rainy Day in Boston, Childe Hassam (1885) Handwrite these notes and place them in your binder. I could check them at any time for a grade. If you do not have them, you earn a grade of zero. 1. The Salem Witch Trials caused a lack of confidence in Puritan authority. 2. Younger generations of very religious people often tend to be not as strictly religious as their parents. 3. There were opportunities for westward expansion and new land.  The Puritans began to spread out. The Puritan communities became less cohesive or “tight.”

Provincetown Dunes, Charles Demuth (1914) Handwrite these notes in your binder. I could check them at any time during the semester for a grade. If you do not have the notes if I ask for them, you earn a grade of zero. 1. They were people who valued education strongly.  Puritans established the first public high school in America--Boston Latin School.  They also thought that it was very important that  both  boys and girls receive an education, although the extent of the different sexes' education varied.  Puritans established the first Ivy League colleges in America.

ENC1101 Students Fall 2023: You will handwrite this essay in class. Do not use your laptop computers or phones for any reason. You may use the notes you took during class discussions of these texts. By the end of class, you will turn in your handwritten version of your essay. Before turning in your handwritten version of the essay, take a picture of the pages so that you can use those pics for the final typed essay (see specific details below) due on October 9, 2023, at the beginning of class. If you do not have the final essay, you will earn a grade of zero. If you are late unexcused to class, you will also earn a grade of zero. If you are excused late to class because you had to print the essay, you will earn a grade of zero. You have plenty of time to print this essay. Plan to complete the assignment two days before it is due in case you encounter any difficulties. Thank you.

Use the orange textbook on the bookshelf under the windows. Turn to page 262. Read this page completely to prepare for a difficult text. Especially read and take notes about rhetorical questions. One of the questions at the end of the text requires that you do the Reader's Notebook on page 262. 

Print out and annotate FDR's Speech. (You can also cut and paste the speech into a Word document, then print it out.) Highlight important sentences. When taking notes, refer to the post on this website, "How to Analyze and Evaluate an Argument." (See the Rubrics tab at the top of the website.) If there is not enough room for annotations on the printout, write notes in your binder. Indicate page numbers, paragraph numbers, and line numbers, as appropriate. Also, complete the "Shorter Analysis of a Text Activity": https://scholarmulhern.blogspot.com/2019/11/analysis-of-text-shorter-version.html .  Please type the Shorter Analysis Activity. Keep an electronic document on your laptop computer for the entirety of the semester. Keep a printed-out document in your binder for the entirety of the semester. Use the correct MLA format. Avoid careless mistakes in spelling, title format, and grammar. Points will be taken off.

The Song of Love, Rene Magritte (1948) *Please read the note at the end of this post about resources (very important). Scholars: A central theme of this course is the need for Tolerance in American society. Review what we have read and discussed in this class. Write down key quotes and ideas that pertain to this theme. Use the MLA citation style. See information about in-text citations and Works Cited page citations on this website, or use Google to find examples of how to do these types of citations. You may also use current (the past year) events in the United States to support your argument on the need for Tolerance in American society. Cite newspaper articles. Again, Google how to cite a newspaper article using MLA style (in-text citation style and Works Cited page style). Again, you may also refer to informational links posted on this website.

S cholars: Below is a sample opening paragraph for a research paper that focuses on religious intolerance. Read the paragraph and then read about how I developed my ideas.

Research Tools for this Essay

Read this text from the Alabama clergymen who elicited a response from MLK in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Take notes on their main points/arguments, as this will help you better understand King's text and his refutations of their assertions. As you read "Letter from Birmingham Jail," consider how King skillfully addresses the arguments of the clergymen.

Create a Reading Questions (with answers) Word document for  all three essays  in the links below. Example of centered title within the Word document: Questions on Hurston Essay.  (no ital., no underline, no bold, same size font as rest of text) Create an Annotations Word document  for  all three essays  in the links  below .  Example of centered title within the Word document: Annotations for Hurston Essay. (no ital., no underline, no bold, same size font as rest of text)

Information—Mr. Mulhern's English Courses--High School Courses, College Courses (ENC1101 and ENC1102)