A forgone conclusion

It's a forgone conclusion that the second quarter of this year is coming to a rapid close, and that you will soon be enjoying the holidays with your families. I'd like to think it is also an "inevitable conclusion" that you have done your best and enjoyed learning in class this quarter, but if I am being too optimistic, you can let me know.

Shakespeare coined a long list of useful phrases, including "a forgone conclusion," which comes from Othello, and you may easily find more listed here and perhaps a few sprinkled throughout this post.


As a reminder for some who are trying to fill in gaps with missing assignments, I will list the Q2 required homework assignments below - there are just 8 of them. A few still need to confirm their final drafts of papers or get in Q2 classroom notebooks, but Monday is the last day and at this point you should consider yourself late and hurry before Santa decides to leave you only a lump of coal for Christmas!

Q2 British Lit HW

HW9 Passionate Shepherd p. 298: 2,3,4,5

HW10 Coy Mistress p. 307: 2,4,5,6,7

HW11 Shakespeare Sonnets 29 & 30 p. 315-316: On 29: 3,4,5;  On 30: 3,4,5,6

HW12 Shakespeare Sonnets 116 & 130 p. 319-320: 1,3,4 for both

HW14 Death Be Not Proud p. 352: 1,2,3,4,5

HW16 Bible: Prodigal Son parable p. 381: 3, 4,5,6

HW20 A Modest Proposal p. 594: 8-15                

HW22 Candide – Voltaire p. 623: 6,8,9,10

HW23 Don Quixote p.632: 3,4,6,7

For HW11 & HW12, the highest score is taken and so you may do one of those.

Please remember to turn in your textbooks to Mr. Catlin at the final exam!


For Speech Meet, which happens in January, you will need to memorize the first 400 words of the following Wordly Wise lesson you have been assigned to from your book. Do exercises C & E by the Tuesday after break.

Molly   –  Chapter 11 Women’s Day (women’s suffrage in the USA)

Oscar   –  Chapter 18 A Family Affair (organ transplants)

Gordon   – Chapter 10 The Tycoon of Pop (Andy Warhol)

Book  –  Chapter 12 On Death and Dying (psychiatrist Kubler-Ross)

George  –  Chapter 9 White Death (sharks)

At one fell swoop, we have made the approach to speech meet this year simple and appealing to those wanting to memorize something straightforward, while ensuring vocabulary is being acquired. Anyone who would like to memorize something else, like a poem or TED talk for public performance and extra credit is not being denied the opportunity to do so, and we can find a larger space than the usual classroom to use!

With speech meet this year, if we approach the activity with an open mind, we should find that all's well that ends well, and we will have gained something for our efforts. At least during our fine holidays, you will be able to surf online or have gaming parties to your heart's content.


If you are a bit of a night owl, you will get some more info on the final exam this weekend, and I hope you will not find yourself saying "woe is me" after seeing the list.

Here are the stories covered by the Final Exam:

HW9 The Passionate Shepherd to His Love – C. Marlowe

HW9 The Nymph Replies to the Shepherd – W. Raleigh

HW10 To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time – R. Herrick  

HW10 To His Coy Mistress – A. Marvell – TEST on HW9 & HW10  

HW11 Shakespeare’s Sonnets 29 & 30 – TEST

HW12 Shakespeare’s Sonnets 116 & 130 – TEST

HW14 Death Be Not Proud – J. Donne – TEST

HW16 The King James Bible: Prodigal Son parable

HW20 A Modest Proposal – J. Swift – TEST

HW21 Heroic Couplets – A. Pope  

HW22 Candide – Voltaire – TEST

HW23 Don Quixote – M. de Cervantes  

There will be 5 to 6 questions each major assignment or author that was tested, and 2 questions each of the three minor stories.

HW9 & HW10 – the pastoral and Carpe Diem poems, have 4 questions

HW11 & HW12, the Shakespeare Sonnets, has 5 questions total, as does Death Be Not Proud, which was HW14.

HW20 & HW23 have 6 questions each, and HW16, HW21, & HW23 each have 2 questions.

There are 32 questions, with no writing, vocabulary, or questions from the Book Groups.

List of helpful terms for the Exam: pastoral, Carpe Diem, Shakespearean Sonnet, quatrain, couplet, turn, meter, iambic pentameter, paradox, parable, allegory, verbal irony; persuasion, antithesis, satire, parody, hyperbole, understatement, simile, personification



Enjoy your Christmas holiday!

Moving at Epic speed

Welcome, Heroes, to a new school year, and a fresh start in what I hope you will count among your excellent learning experiences. British literature subject that has depth and breadth that may not easily be found elsewhere. During this first quarter of the 2014-15 academic year, we can expect to examine the roots of British writing, with Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and Arthurian legends, while comparing to heroes that may be familiar from Greece.

Our course is not only going to focus on reading, however. We do have quite a bit of speaking, writing, and basic skills to master. We'll be working on vocabulary-building and developing a better awareness of grammar - with its correct application - and keep our eyes on pressing concerns of upperclassmen, including college applications and testing.

A certain place must be kept up in our reading. In fact, once our routines are settled, we can expect to mix things up with both reading groups, otherwise known as "literature circles," and spoken group work that will likely focus on debate. A lot is coming, and I'll update this post later on content.

For now, I would like to share the planned readings for the first quarter, classes for which basically end on Wednesday, October 8th. October 9th will be off for students and the 10th is a national holiday. Starting the following week, on Monday, October 13th, we have the quarterly exams for the first quarter. So we'll need to keep in mind early on that exams will start after a long weekend.

Q1 Assignments (from Collections 1 & 2)

HW1 Beowulf Part 1 – p. 42 – 2, 4, 6, 7, 8; due 9/2  

HW2 Beowulf Part 2 – p. 50 – 5, 6, 7, 8; due 9/4 TEST (combined)

HW3 Canterbury Tales 1: Prologue – p. 165 – 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; due 9/11 TEST

HW4 Canterbury Tales 2: The Pardoner’s Tale – p. 176 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; due 9/19  

HW5 Canterbury Tales 3: Wife of Bath – p. 188 (6-7, 10-13) due 9/25 TEST

HW6 Iliad – p. 79 – 4, 6, 7, 9, due 9/30 TEST

HW7 Day of Destiny from Le Morte D’Arthur (King Arthur) – p . 223 – 3, 4, 7 (writing extra) 10/3 TEST

HW8 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – p. 237 – 2, 3, 4, 5 (extra credit) 10/7 

Before parent conferences, which happen from September 15-19, we will also complete revisions of a Persuasive writing essay and do a graded autobiographical speaking task. During that week, students will have a half-day schedule for classes. I do recommend planning to use some of that time for upcoming reading. If you preview scheduled readings and have questions prepared, then we'll be able to help you more effectively and efficiently, and your learning results, not to mention grades, should be better. 

The middle of the first quarter is September 12, but we hope no one will require notices to parents that your average is below 70%. If you find yourself in that range, I urge you to schedule one day a week with me at 3:45 to have your questions answered about homework & assessments, until your grade is in the B range. Upperclassmen should set a reasonable goal for themselves, in my opinion, of attaining at least a B in their junior and senior year English courses. Only then can you go about your business for your other classes - if not, then you need to work on your English so that success all across your courses is ensured. Please feel welcome to see me - I want to offer encouragement, direction, and proper instruction and your success is my first priority.

The assignments for all four quarters have already been mapped out - we have an exciting lineup of wonderful authors! If you feel me pushing you fast, it is not only because I know you can do it, but because simple put, if we go too slowly we will not be able to read some of the really great writings and authors in British and Western literature. If we do the plan above, and proceed with about an average of 15 readings per quarter after this, we will have an admirable preparation for any college English or Literature course. We do not need to have tests on every selection, and the suggested exercises need not always be graded, but to "pass" on reading them would be a "fail" for your experience in reading & life. When you see what's coming, you'll not fail to get enthusiastic, and devote a little more of your time & effort to British Literature this year.

Embracing Change

This whole year has been about learning to adjust to slightly new or challenging situations, I feel. All of us have come a long way and we've seen some incredible achievements despite quite daunting challenges. Take, for example, how the Talent Show at our school went. As I recall, most talent shows in the past, Christmas programs, and other events of this importance were usually entrusted to a talented teacher to figure out before, but since this option was not available this year, students were graciously given the opportunity to lead the way, and the results were wonderful! That was the best talent show I have seen at GCA, not only because the show went smoothly, or the performances were great, but because the students were all really excited the whole way through. I'm going to long remember Casey, Hank (and George) with their music, and thanks to other students like Michelle, we have a good example going forward of student leadership and creativity.

There are other examples of uncomfortable change all around us, from the freakish typhoons in the area (the Philippines got hit with the worst one EVER recorded within the last year) to weirdos with guns (California) or knives (Taipei's mrt). It feels like the world is getting worse - or is it?

My theory is the world has always been messed up, and we are simply getting more up-to-the-minute news of it from around the world more easily. All I know is that the feeling that the world is bad and getting worse is nothing new, and that the best thing you can do is be prepared to be flexible, because change will be needed if you are to cope in the world as an independent person.

Speaking of independence, congratulations to the graduating seniors! I liked what I saw in terms of advice to underclassmen on the individual blogs - we should make sure they read it! If I have time later, I will summarize them below, but my favorite one was from "Sigmund": STUDY HARD if you want a good senior year. Good, simple advice!

My advice to you, going forward, is to Embrace Change - be ready to change your viewpoints, habits, and self. If you want to change the world, start by changing yourself!