And the winner is...

Did you happen to miss the sonnet vote?
Alas, that you neglected all the best
your witty peers could offer, all they wrote
in verse and rhyme, they beat out all the rest
and won their classes' winter sonnet game.
Then moving on to our trueteacher site,
they represented well, fought hard to claim
the rights and privileges so requisite
of being the 8-Mile Sonnet Death
Match champ. Bravo to Sungeun's Chris's, Todd's
and rhythmic Thomas, Michael's, Brendan's breath.
For all spoke well against the stringent odds
the Bard proscribed in jest. Still, there is one
With most votes cast for him: Chris Masterson.

Wild about sonnets!

Vote for your favorite sonnet here in the all-out, drag-down, 3rd Annual American Idle/8-Mile Sonnet Death Match brought to you by Trueteacher.com.

How great are sonnets? Don't you love them? Check out this site which promises you a comprehensive reading journey down the roads of sonnet history.

Hwaet! We greet the new film Beowulf.

Writers who write about movies. They disagree. Read about the fuss over Beowulf: the movie.

The Boston Globe liked it.

The New York Times mentions me! But doesn't like it for the most part.

The London Times has mixed feelings.

The LA Times has a lot of problems with it.

Library Visit: Monday, November 5

Today, you must type "essay the first" into the trueteacher website. Be sure to type your name above the essay, put a space between paragraphs, and proofread as you type! When you are done, come back to this page for further instructions. Click here to enter your essay into the website. In a day or two, you'll see your essay appear in your portfolio here.

If you finish early, check out some of the newest additions to the OED in the last year. (You may need to log in.)

Read William Safire's article in yesterday's New York Times about the phrase "shout out."

Go to freerice.com and see how much rice you can earn with your knowledge of vocabulary!

Check out some of the links in other blog entries below that you haven't yet checked out.

Flash cards homework tonight:
Pallor
Hoary
Prating
Tarry
Apothecary
subtle
Rouse
Capital
Timid
Derision
Maxim
stringent

Extra Credit Opportunities,

Here are some ways to get extra credit for your first quarter grade:

-10 pts. each. Read any other story in "unit 1" of your textbook and answer the "review and assess" questions at the end of it.

-10 pts. each. Read any "book" of Le Morte D'Arthur and write two good paragraphs of analysis about what it teaches you about Arthur and what it teaches you about chivalry.

-10 pts. each. Write an original, creative, funny "top 10" list like the one I did here (well, mine only has three). The subject? Anything Arthurian or Beowulf...ian.

-25 pts. each. Watch any of the following movies: Camelot (the musical), First Knight, The Sword in the Stone, Excalibur, Beowulf and Grendel. Write a two-paragraph review of what the movie teaches you about Britain that you didn't know and how one of the movie's characters appeals to you.

-25 pts. each. Write a good article (editorial, film/music review, news) for the school newspaper The Knight Insight. Get it published for extra credit!

All of these extra credit opportunities are valid for the whole year, not just for the first quarter!

Library Visit, essay 1

Search the London Times or the Boston Globe (click on Globe) or the New York Times for unique uses of your word since 2000.

Try EBSCO, which searches all magazines/newspapers at once for you. Type username/password, click on "full text periodicals" then "MAS Ultra" then search for recent articles using your word uniquely.

Go to OED.com and log in with my username/password to read more about your word if there is more to be read.

FYI: Here is the suggested outline for essay 1, draft 2:

-Intro: general to specific thesis
-Report on preliminary research/crunch #’s.
-OED definitions that are unique or different from ordinary definitions.
-OED citations from literature—what kinds of authors have experimented with or changed this word over time?
-2000àonward usage: in The London Times or other newspaper and in a modern poem/short story/novel.
-Conclusion: what is this word’s future versus English’s future as a “super-language”?

Did Angelina Jolie read Beowulf in high school?

The answer: of course! Anyone educated and good looking reads Beowulf! Even though you might need parental guidance to see it in November, you should get away from watching the trailer unscathed.

Actual lines from the movie version that don't encourage me to go see it:

"I'm Beowulf. I'll kill your monster."

"Are you the one they call Beowulf? Such a strong man you are."

"I'm a ripper, tearer, and slasher...I am Beowulf."

Old English Dictionary

Want to write more old English poems? Check this dictionary out for help...

This is the English 10 Blog. Welcome.

Yes, it's the English 10 blog. More to come...