John McCain Debate Videos

In debate, people pay just as much attention to how you say something than the actual words you use. The following videos show how body language and other nonverbal forms of communication affected world events.

This 1st video shows clips of the 3rd Presidential Debate from the 2008 election. It is widely known in political circles that, following this debate, John McCain had lost the election. Some have assumed that it was due to his poor performance and attitude he displayed in this debate.



These next 2 clips show the reaction from newscasters, political pundits, and the general public to McCain's body language in the debate.






So after watching these videos, ask yourself how you look when presenting in front of a crowd. Do you display confidence, contempt of the opposition, or even a complete lack of caring? Remember, even if you don't know the answer to this question, your audience does.

The Road/Metamorphosis - Where to Buy

For our next unit, many of you will be reading either the Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy or Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. You need to have found a copy of your assigned book by A Day - Monday, March 14 or B Day - Tuesday, March 15. New copies of either book start at $7.99, and used copies generally range from $1-$5.

Both are incredibly popular novels that should be rather easy to find at any major bookstore, including Borders, Barnes and Noble, and even Fred Meyer. If you are looking for used copies, click on the websites below and search for the name of the novel with the author's name. Keep in mind, if you choose to have a book shipped to you, it may take 2-3 weeks to arrive, so you would need to do order it in the next day or so and place it on a rush order.

Powell's
Dollar Books
Amazon
Abebooks

I also highly recommend checking with your local neighborhood library, or even your home school's library, as they may have copies you can check out for free. For those of you reading Metamorphosis, free versions can be found online that you can print off yourself. Simply Google "Kafka Metamorphosis" and you should be able to find a free, online version. If you have any issues finding a copy of the book or have any questions about this upcoming unit feel free email me.

Recognizing Beliefs

Here are the videos and pictures from the "Recognizing Belief PPT." As you look through these ask yourself, what do you think the person who created this is trying to show about what they believe?

"This I Believe"

"This I Believe" began in the 1950's as a radio program that featured essays from famous politicians, corporate leaders, teachers, and even high school students being read by their authors. These essays explored core beliefs about faith, life, or whatever was of utmost importance to the writer. Throughout our upcoming unit we will study these essays to determine how authors use specific narrative details and their own author's voice to create dynamic and interesting writing. Each of you will then have the opportunity to write a narrative essay of your own where you can share your most steadfast beliefs.

Continue to check this blog regularly for updates about the unit and links to various resources.

Click on any of the links below to find out more about "This I Believe" or to check out some of the essays.

This I Believe Official Site

"Finding Prosperity by Feeding Monkeys" by Harold Taw

"Be Cool to the Pizza Delivery Dude" by Sarah Adams

"A Duty to Heal" by Pius Kamau

"There is No God" by Penn Jillette

"The God Who Embraced Me When Daddy Disappeared" by John Fountain
"The Connection between Strangers" by Miles Goodwin

Romanticism Blog Class Links

Here are the links to the Romanticism blogs for all of you to check out. Feel free to explore your classmate's blogs and those of other periods. Also, if something strikes you on another blog, make a comment about it. Start a conversation and connect with each other.

The names and URL's have been taken directly from the memos submitted by each group. As you can see, some groups have the exact same name for their blogs. If this is true of your group, I would highly recommend renaming your blog to something more interesting than just the poet's name. If something has changed (blog name, URL, etc), or if your blog does not appear on this list please email me.

A1:
Coleridge Comberbache; the Man of Two Names

Time to Meet Percy Bysshe Shelley AKA Alyck.
We Love Boys, Especially William Blake
Percy Shelley
Wordzworth 4 Eva
Will Blake Blog?
The Best of Blake

Romantic Poet William Blake

A3:
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Byron's Club
Lord Byron
A Pot of Basil
Blake's Prophecies Revealed
The Blake Blog that is Better then the Best “Blake Blog”

A4:
All About Blake
Coleridge Symbolism and Meanings
William Blake and His Poetry
Different Perspectives on Samuel Coleridge's Poetry
A teenager's view on the works of William Blake

The Young Person's View on William Wordsworth

B5:
The Life and Work of John Keats
Wordsworthians
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell: A Tribute to William Blake

The Poems of John Keats

The Rime of a Mariner

The Headless Boyfriend

B7:
John Keats
Lord Byron; c'est la vie
William Wordsworth's "The Thorn"
William Blake's Art and Poetry
Blake's Short Titillations
Blake is My Homie

"The Book of Urizen" - Articles

A lot has been said about this poem. Below are a couple articles about different aspects of "The Book of Urizen":

"Evil and Urizen: William Blake's Visions of a Demiurge - A fantastic article that provides a great breakdown of the poem as well as an interesting interpretation of the relationship of faith and science throughout it.

"The Book of Urizen" Commentary by Nicolas Barker - In addition to providing some great background on Blake's artistic techniques, Barker explains how the poem fits with Blake's other works. He also gets into some of the differences of the eight original copies of the poem.

"The Book of Urizen" - Art and music mashup

Check out this combination of music and Blake's plates for "The Book of Urizen."