Happy Holidays

My Young Friends,

I wish you a very happy and restful holidays and new year. As we finish up this semester, I am sure at least a part of your attention is on heading into the last semester of your high school careers. It's an exciting time, and also a bit of a scary one, to be honest. But I am looking forward to coming back together after a good, well-deserved rest and moving onto Senior English, part 2.

I am truly thankful for many things in my life. And being your teacher is one of them. I enjoy the English and I enjoy all the other life stuff we talk about. I just wanted you to know that as you head into 2009.

Take care of yourselves and each other. I will see you in the new year!

Love and Peace,
Mr. Huffman

P.S. Hamlet said, "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. To me [life] is a prison." But it doesn't need to be. You can be free. I wish for you the brilliant challenge of true freedom.

Now, here is a gift:



And here is another one I just saw today. We can all be artists, right?

Your Introduction Paragraph

When writing your introduction paragraph, you should remember the following:

1. You need to prepare the reader for what they will be reading.


2. By the end of the introduction paragraph, it should be absolutely clear what the rest of the essay is about. What will be proven?

Those are really the only "rules" for writing an introduction. What follows is a formula for accomplishing the above. You may follow the formula without penalty. But remember it is only a formula.

Formula for introduction:

• Start with an attention grabber. Some common attention grabbers are quotes, questions, startling statistics, and anecdotes. For a literary analysis, my preferences are the quotes and the anecdotes. Questions work well when doing an in-class essay. If you are using a quote, you may find one from the literary piece you are writing. Make sure it generally relates to the main idea of your essay. (1-5 sentences)


• Follow your attention grabber with specific background information about the text you are analyzing. You don't need to go into tremendous detail. Simply state the title, the author and whatever other background information might be necessary to understand your essay. The purpose of the background is to build a bridge from the attention grabber to the thesis statement. (2-4 sentences)


• Thesis. The thesis is the most important sentence in your essay. It is here that you specifically answer the question or address the prompt, and you let the reader know what point is going to be proven in the rest of the essay.

Follow this formula in this order and you will have a strong introduction paragraph. If you have any questions, hit the comment link below. Otherwise, send me an email.

Sample Lit Analysis Paragraph

This paragraph is created directly from the quote organizer.

Hamlet is merely acting crazy in the beginning of the play. For example, Hamlet is talking to Horatio after seeing the ghost in the tower. He says to him and the others, "I will put on an antic disposition" (I,v). This means that he is putting on an act of being crazy or "antic". Another example is later, when he's talking to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern after he figures out that they're spying on him. He tells them, "I am but mad north by northwest. When the wind is southerly, I can tell a hawk from a handsaw" (II,ii). Here, he is telling him that he is only acting crazy some of the time. He can turn it off when he needs to. These quotes prove (show, demonstrate, exemplify) that Hamlet knows exactly what he's doing. Through Acts 1 and 2, it is clear he isn't insane. He is merely acting insane to cover up his real plans.

Hamlet Unit

Individual Assignments

Lit Terms: You must complete a lit term analysis for the following literary techniques: soliloquy, aside, and foil. All of them are in Hamlet.

Reader Responses: You must choose two of the following to answer (150-200 words each):

Act 1: Write a newspaper article for Denmark. You should identify the major events of the act.

Act 2: Write a psychoanalysis of Hamlet to give to the king. If you were Hamlet's therapist, what would you tell King Claudius about how his nephew is acting?

Act 3: Write a break up letter to Ophelia from Hamlet. Perhaps you might want to explain yourself somewhat and why you've been acting the way you have.

Act 4: As Hamlet, write a letter of apology to Laertes, explaining yourself and your role in his loss.

Act 5: Eulogy. As if you are Horatio, write a eulogy about Hamlet. Remember, you are the only one who knows the truth, so now is the time to tell the story.

The Bard

This week we will begin our study of Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet. It would be helpful for you if you were to look up Shakespeare, do a little research, and discover for yourself who the bard is. What is probably more useful, however, is a link to a study guide. This link provides you with a line-by-line translation of the play. I will also provide you with this link, which will help you and your group to decipher the acts and scenes for your presentations.

Reading Shakespeare is no easy task. But his ability to create characters and situations that really explore the hardships of the human experience is unparalleled.

Check back here often to see what new Shakespeare updates we have.

The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd

by Sir Walter Raleigh

IF all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.

Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb;
The rest complains of cares to come.

The flowers do fade, and wanton fields
To wayward winter reckoning yields:
A honey tongue, a heart of gall,
Is fancy's spring, but sorrow's fall.

The gowns, thy shoes, thy beds of roses,
Thy cap, thy kirtle, and thy posies
Soon break, soon wither, soon forgotten,—
In folly ripe, in reason rotten.

Thy belt of straw and ivy buds,
Thy coral clasps and amber studs,
All these in me no means can move
To come to thee and be thy love.

But could youth last and love still breed,
Had joys no date nor age no need,
Then these delights my mind might move
To live with thee and be thy love.

Reader Response Assignment: Due Mond...

Reader Response Assignment: Due Monday or Tuesday before class.

Does the sonnet you read adequately capture your experience with love? Explain (250-300 words).

You might want to write two paragraphs. The first would describe the general theme of the sonnet. The second would explain how (if) it relates to you.

Note: You may choose any of the four sonnets below.