Mulhern's English Site

Sweet Score--Skylark, Gene Davis (1960) The rubric below is one that I created by synthesizing (combining) sources elsewhere (handouts from workshops, Internet sites,  and my own observations/experience as an AP Reader ). Unfortunately, I do not have all the necessary attribution, as I have been adding to it and subtracting from it over many years.  I want to thank all those anonymous sources for their input. (Always give credit to others when appropriate.) This rubric is  not  a product of The College Board (the company that creates the AP Exam), although it contains language from College Board rubrics, as well as the valuable input I receive yearly from fellow AP Readers of the essays.  Cut and paste the text after the asterisks into a word document, print the item out, and always bring it to class (keep in notebook).

(from B.E.S.T. Standards)  

(from B.E.S.T. Standards)  

Mary's First Speech, Winston Churchill (no date) Check out this link to what Time Magazine considers the top 10 greatest speeches: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1841228_1841749_1841738,00.html

Memories of a Night, Luigi Russolo (1911) All Classes--Handwriting Actually Improves Memory  Students sometimes ask me why they can't just copy and paste, or type some notes.  Brain research demonstrates that actually using your hand  to write out the letters and words is more beneficial than typing, and certainly more beneficial than just copying and pasting. Check out this link: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Writing-Helps-Memory-More-than-Typing-181157.shtml

To be arranged if needed.

Mr. James Mulhern has been teaching for over thirty-two years in a variety of settings--college, high school, middle school, at-risk, and alternative environments. He has taught English, Writing, Math, History, Science, and a job skills course. Mr. Mulhern has editorial experience working for Houghton Mifflin Company (textbooks and  The American Heritage   Dictionary,  Third Edition) and  Ploughshares,  a literary magazine, both based in Boston. He also worked for National Evaluation Systems, a teacher test publisher in Amherst, Massachusetts, and for Clark Boardman Callaghan, a law publishing house in New York City. He was employed in the healthcare arena (unit management positions) for over ten years in New York, Massachusetts, and California. A few of the medical facilities where he worked include The Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, as well as St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco, California. He taught writing...

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English III-Notes on Myth