Due January 6 (Portfolio)

Portfolios with all essays (to date)      DUE JANUARY 13, 2016
Vocabulary Test (all words to date)         FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Table of Contents

Resume

Animal Perspective

Fable

Descriptive 5 Senses

Letter 

Biography

Sugar

Family Tradition

Ten Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice

What is your unique perspective on life, your unique collection of beliefs, fears, hopes and dreams, your earliest memories . . . your universe?
You write a great essay or story by offering something that cannot be found anywhere else — and the only thing in the universe that readers cannot get anywhere but from you is . . . you.
Which means you have to put yourself on your page. This is what is known in the writing business as developing your voice. Voice isn’t merely style. Style would be easy by comparison. Style is watching your use of adjectives and doing a few flashy things with alliteration. Style without voice is hollow. Voice is style, plus theme, plus personal observations, plus passion, plus belief, plus desire. Voice is bleeding onto the page, and it can be a powerful, frightening, naked experience.
But your voice is your future in writing. And here is how you develop it.

1. Read everything.
You cannot be a successful writer if you don’t read. That isn’t opinion; that’s fact. All writers read, and all good writers read a lot. Read fiction, read nonfiction, read in the genre you love, read outside of it. Read WAY outside of it. You cannot be a snob — don’t write off any genre or type of book as being without redeeming qualities or lessons to teach you. The more you read, the more you will acquire a visceral instinct about what works for you, and an equally compelling instinct for what doesn’t. You’ll discover how stories are put together, get a feel for how good novels are paced and plotted and how bad ones fall apart, and you’ll start developing a hunger to write specific stories, because you’ll come across areas of fiction where nobody is writing the kind of books you want to read.
Reading is magic. It’s your bread and butter. Don’t neglect it.

2. Write everything.
Try your hand at non-fiction. Write sentimental scenes. Put together a western character and run him through a fight scenario. Try fantasy, try SF, try historical fiction, try mainstream. Write a sonnet, and some haiku, and a few limericks. Remember the first rule of writing:
Nothing you write is wasted.
Whether you use what you’ve produced or not, you will have learned from the experience . . . and you can never know too much. 

3. Copy the best.
Do short exercises where you sit down and not only copy the style of your favorite writers, but also some of their themes and passions. Get as much into their heads as you can.
VERY IMPORTANT: Do NOT copy their characters, their worlds, or their stories. Never ever plagiarize.
Your objective in finding your own voice is to loosen up your writing muscles by writing your OWN work in someone else’s voice, simply to shut up your inner critic. Try the style of Dr. Seuss, Shakespeare, Roald, Dahl, Aesop, Tomi Depaola.

You can get a feel for writing in a voice that you don’t have to be responsible for — if you’re writing as “Mark Twain,” (for example) you’ll be a lot less critical of yourself, and you’ll free yourself up to experiment with content and structure in ways that you might resist when you’re writing as yourself. After all, you have nothing to lose. If the stuff flops, it wasn’t really you, it's Dr. Seuss (for example :-).

4. Play games.
Make endless lists — one-word lists of the things that excite you, the things that scare you, the things that you dream and fantasize about and hope for, the things you dread and fight to avoid. It is absolutely essential that these words have some special meaning to you — do not go through a dictionary and pick them out randomly, or you’ll find yourself staring at a blank page more often than not when trying to play the games that follow. Great topics for lists are:

1. Childhood memories
   
2. Dreams and nightmares
3. Ten gifts I’d give myself if I could have anything
4. Things that are creepy
5. If I had to spend a million dollars in one day, I’d buy . . . 
6. What I’d do anything to avoid
7. Things that are sentimental to me
8. Best foods
9. Best times
10. What I want most in the world

You can come up with endless other topics for lists, too. Use these lists as triggers for writing games like the following:

• “Three Words”   Randomly choose one item from each of three lists. Use these words to create a title — you’ll get something weird like “Lake Bones Ice Cream,” or “Naked Broken-Glass Monkeys.” Without allowing yourself to think about these words or censor what you’re putting on the page, just start writing, letting the words conjure images and stories for you. Write for ten minutes without allowing yourself to stop or correct anything.

• “Chasing Your Tail”   Start with a random word on one of your lists. Write for two or three minutes on that word, not allowing yourself to stop writing, to back up, or to correct. Immediately choose by random means a second word from any one of your lists. Start writing again, connecting this word to what you were writing about before. Write for two or three minutes; then pick another word which you connect to the subject you’ve been writing about with the first two. Run with this pattern of choosing and following for as long as you wish, or can.

• “Theme”   Randomly choose only one word, and write for ten minutes on just that word, exploring everything about it that matters to you, why the subject is compelling to you, what memories it stirs in you, what hopes or fears it shakes loose in you, places, sounds, scents and tastes that appear as you’re writing. Don’t censor, don’t stop writing for any reason, don’t correct.

Again, you can come up with endless variations on these games that you can play by yourself or with other writers in writers’ groups. The idea is to dig beneath your surface.

5. Challenge your perspective.
You will discover that your writing can become more interesting and more complex than you ever imagined. Here is a link to an example of what I mean in pictures. When it comes to writing, perspective can change everything. Try to write from a different perspective. Go ahead, I double-dog dare ya.

• If you’re a staunch Republican, write an essay from inside the head of a liberal Democrat who is in favor of the thing you most despise, whether it is entitlement spending or gun control or ? ? ? ?
• If you’re strongly science-oriented, write from inside the head of a detective who relies on hunches and luck. 
• If you love the arts, write from the perspective of a robot who has no understanding of aesthetics. 

6. Dare to be dreadful.
When you’re finding your voice, you’re going to be doing a lot of experimenting. Some of what you write, frankly, is going to be lousy. Some of it will shock you with how good you really are. But the only way you’ll get any of the good stuff is if you allow yourself to put whatever comes into your head down on the page without demanding salable prose of yourself.

7. Write from passion.
If you don’t care about the things you’re writing about, you will never discover your true voice. 

8. Take risks.
Choose to write about themes that your internal editor insists are too dangerous, too controversial, too serious, or even too silly to be put on the paper. 

9. Remember that complacency is your worst enemy.
If you’re comfortable, if you’re rolling along without having to really think, if you haven’t had to challenge yourself, if you know that everyone is going to approve of what you’ve done — you’re wasting your time. Writing done from a position of comfort will never say anything worthwhile.

10. Remember that fear is your best friend.
If your heart is beating fast and your palms are sweating and your mouth is dry, you’re writing from the part of yourself that has something to say that will

be worth hearing. Keep writing.
At the heart of everything that you’ve ever read that moved you, touched you, changed your life, there was a writer’s fear. And a writer’s determination to say what he had to say in spite of that fear.
So be afraid. Be very afraid. And then thank your fear for telling you that you just might be treading into very cool writing territory.
Your personal writing voice is born from a lot of words and a lot of work — but not just any words or any work will do. You have to bleed a little. You have to shiver a little. You have to love a lot — love your writing, love your failures, love your courage in going on in spite of them, love every small triumph that points toward eventual success. You already have a voice. It’s beautiful, it’s unique, it’s the voice of a best-seller. Your job is to lead it from the darkest of the dark places and the deepest of the deep waters into the light of day.


Sources:
Soutenus and
http://hollylisle.com/ten-steps-to-finding-your-writing-voice/

Due December 16 (QUOTES Memorized)

Be ready to recite all 5 of your quotes on December 16! 

Bring a snack to share for our Advent of Christmas Celebration, too.

• This illustration was chosen in honor of Kaitlyn's awesome essay on Norman Rockwell. 
• For Diego: I did some searching and it turns out that there actually ARE some Odyssey of the Mind resources online!  Here a a few that describe some SPONTANEOUS VERBAL games.

https://www.odysseyofthemind.com/practice/default_cat.php?Id=2http://nepaootm.com/wp/?cat=9
http://va.odysseyofthemind.org/weekproblemarchive.html
http://lsemel.github.io/odyssey/spont/verbal.html
http://www.calomer.org/spontaneous/  (not as user friendly as others -- mostly individual pdf.s)




If you have read this far down in my post, congratulations! You are the first to know that our next book is: 
Alex O'Donnell and the 40 Cyberthieves - by Regina Doman.
Read it over Christmas vacation if you want. Target due date for finishing the book is: Valentine's Day 2016

Due December 9 (family tradition)

I hope you are loving this week's assignment. Write your essay about a family tradition that you want to keep or create. Remember I do not want to read about "turkey dinner" or simply giving gifts. Think hard about what tradition(s) are important to you, dear to your heart, or that you are passionate about creating. This is lower case tradition . . . not capital "T" Apostolic Tradition! Hopefully you are already practicing and keeping all capital "T" Traditions.

WITs  (1 paragraph)  

ww

bc
ww
ly
QA
SV
asia
#2
#3
#5
#6  (vss)
ALLIT
ASSONANCE

VARSITY  (3 Paragraphs)

included in each paragraph

all dress ups

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7





and . . . VARSITY,  included at least once in the whole essay:
Question
Quote
MET
SIM
ALLT
ASSONANCE
3X Repeat (choose your favorite DEC tat fits this requirement)

Misplaced Modifiers

Due December 2 (Sugar, Vocab)

Essays about . . . S U G A R

Lets the word, "Sugar" spark your imaginations.

Do some brainstorming and let your creativity lead the way.


WITS  (1 Paragraph)
bc

ww
ly
QA
SV
asia
#2
#3
#6 (vss - extra credit)
#5 (extra credit)

VARSITY  (3 Paragraphs)
Included in EACH paragraph:
all dress ups
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7 (extra credit)

and . . . VARSITY  (3 Paragraphs)
Included at least once in the whole essay:
Question
Quote
metaphor
simile
alliteration
3X Repeat (choose your favorite DEC that fits this requirement)



VOCAB WORDS for December 2
You may turn in completed work on November 25!

Remember . . . S U G A R!    Or coded as an anagram: R A G U S

1. Sarcasm

2. Self Fulfilling Prophecy

3. Onomatopoeia

4. Oxymoron

5. Non Sequitur

6. Homophone

7. Epilogue
.

8. Ellipsis
    more info on Ellipsis

9. Anecdote

10. Rhetorical Question

11. Anthropomorphism

12. Ad hominem 

13. Bildungsroman

14. Caricature

15. Assonance

Due November 18 (Bio, 10 Vocab Wds., FreeRice 2K)

Biography Essay due   
                             
10 Vocabulary Words due  

Free Rice 2K grains of rice                    


Requirements for 
1st) WITs
2nd) VARSITY

VARSITY        

ww

ly

bc

QA

SV

asis

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6vss

#7

ALLIT

MET or SIM

 Q?

"Q"

T/C

November 18: REMEMBER

• Biography essays are due. NO BANNED WORDS (see sidebar)
• Our next 10 vocab words are due. Include the definition, part of speech, and examples, please. Write a sentence using each word. also.  
• 2K grains of Free Rice

1 Parody: an imitation or mocking  of another work of art to make light or make fun of it in some way. Many people see it as a form of ridicule, while others feel it is a high form of flattery..

2 Satire:  Satire suggests, incites, or advocates a social or political change. Parody (word #2) and satire often (but not always) go hand-in-hand. Parody is really meant for mocking and it may or may not incite the society

3 Catharsis: An emotional release through which one feels a lessening of stress or anxiety. It usually makes a person feel renewed. Literature (movies, plays, operas, and ballets) can make us feel this way. 

4 Antithesis: 

A rhetorical devise used in literature that puts two contrasting ideas together. Arguably the most famous six words in all of Shakespeare’s work are a great example of antithesis.

 “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” — Hamlet

5 Hyperbole: an exaggeration that is usually used for emphasis and humor. Hyperboles are used in speaking and writing for effect. Instead of telling you child that something is an exaggeration, try saying, “What amazing use of hyperbole!” Or, “You need not use hyperbole to make your point.”  ;-)

6 Anagram: a form of word play in which letters of a word or phrase are rearranged in such a way that a new word or phrase is formed.

7 Epiphany (as in “revelation, realization, sudden clear understanding) 

8 Colloquialism: In literature, colloquialism is the use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing. Colloquial expressions that are indigenous to one’s own culture or geographic area tend to go unnoticed, because they are part of our life. When you read a book from another time period or geographical area, you will notice them more. 

9 Idiom: An idiom is a saying, phrase, or fixed expression in a culture that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning.

10 Poetic Justice: In literature, poetic justice is an ideal form of justice in which the good characters are rewarded and the bad characters are punished by an ironic twist of their fate.

Due November 11, 2015 (Letter)

Write a letter to someone you love OR to your future (adult) self.
Your letter must be to a real person.

Your letter must be @ least 2 paragraphs.

The required Dress-ups, Openers, and Decorations should each be indicated once in your letter. Choose the best examples. 

I am suspending the "all required IEW tools per paragraph" rule just for this assignment.

KWO, Rough Draft, and Checklist are required as always.

Be sure to use a proper letter writing format. Please check this link for help with proper friendly or personal letter formatting.

No Banned Words (see side bar for the list)
No Contractions

WITs 

ww
bc
ly
QA
SV
#3
#6

Varsity and Una Voce
ww
bc
ly
QA
SV
asia
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
ALLIT
SIM or MET
Q?
Q

November 18: Biography essays are due.
Our next 10 vocab words are due. Include the definition, part of speech, and examples, please. Write a sentence using each word. also.  

1 Parody: an imitation or mocking  of another work of art to make light or make fun of it in some way. Many people see it as a form of ridicule, while others feel it is a high form of flattery..

2 Satire:  Satire suggests, incites, or advocates a social or political change. Parody (word #2) and satire often (but not always) go hand-in-hand. Parody is really meant for mocking and it may or may not incite the society

3 Catharsis: An emotional release through which one feels a lessening of stress or anxiety. It usually makes a person feel renewed. Literature (movies, plays, operas, and ballets) can make us feel this way. 

4 Antithesis: 

A rhetorical devise used in literature that puts two contrasting ideas together. Arguably the most famous six words in all of Shakespeare’s work are a great example of antithesis.

 “To be, or not to be, that is the question.” — Hamlet

5 Hyperbole: an exaggeration that is usually used for emphasis and humor. Hyperboles are used in speaking and writing for effect. Instead of telling you child that something is an exaggeration, try saying, “What amazing use of hyperbole!” Or, “You need not use hyperbole to make your point.”  ;-)

6 Anagram: a form of word play in which letters of a word or phrase are rearranged in such a way that a new word or phrase is formed.

7 Epiphany (as in “revelation, realization, sudden clear understanding) 

8 Colloquialism: In literature, colloquialism is the use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing. Colloquial expressions that are indigenous to one’s own culture or geographic area tend to go unnoticed, because they are part of our life. When you read a book from another time period or geographical area, you will notice them more. 

9 Idiom: An idiom is a saying, phrase, or fixed expression in a culture that has a figurative meaning different from its literal meaning.

10 Poetic Justice: In literature, poetic justice is an ideal form of justice in which the good characters are rewarded and the bad characters are punished by an ironic twist of their fate.

Due Nov. 4, 2015 (Vocab test, FreeRice 5K, Descriptive essay, Bio Rough Draft)

Vocab Test on ALL 20 words. The test will include:
fill-in-the-blank
match the word to the definition
match the word to the example
true/false
These are the words you will need a clear definition for:
1) Plot
2) Protagonist
3) Cacophony
4) Doppelganger
5) Motif
6) Nemesis

Know who the protagonist was in The Sign of the Beaver.   (Matt)

Know the first and last name of the author of The Sign of the Beaver.

Know the conflict in The Sign of the Beaver.   (man v. nature/environment)

Know the category genre of The Sign of the Beaver.   (Historical Fiction)
and  . . . see the extra credit below!

Bildungsroman  EXTRA CREDIT!  Bildungsroman 
Know that a coming of age story (like The Sign of the Beaver) is also a GENRE known as a "bildungsroman." 
A bildungsroman (or, coming of age genre) is a special kind of novel that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the main character (usually from childhood to adulthood).

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FreeRice.com ---->  5,000 grains of rice
Contact me if you have a question
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ESSAY assignment
One Descriptive Paragraph utilizing every single sense. Describe a place, event, or scene in vivid detail. Use ALL the senses to walk us through your place, event, or scene. You might want to use a different perspective to make it a bit unusual.
One paragraph . . . . One amazing paragraph!  :-)
Develop your descriptive paragraph using every sense.
More than one sentence will be needed for each sense. You may wrap this in a story or just make your descriptive paragraph come alive in the reader's mind.
~~> NO BANNED WORDS and NO CONTRACTIONS
~~> KWO, rough draft, and checklist, as always
WITs:

ly
w/w
b/c
QA
SV
#3

VARSITY:
ly
w/w
b/c
QA
SV
asia
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
T/C
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Turn in a copy of the rough draft of your biography.

Una Voce members may substitute a platform speech, I.O., etc.

Remember, a copy of your rough draft.

Due October 28 (Sign of the Beaver, vocab, Bio research)

1)  Review our summer book, The Sign of the Beaver.
Be ready to discuss the story (plot), the characters, the setting and time period, the conflicts, and conclusion.
Know who the author is! :-)
If you are having trouble remembering the book, you may go to schmoop.com
OR
 brighthubeducation.com  It may help to read the chapter summaries.

2) Vocabulary words (Vocab test on November 4)
    1. conflict

    2. flashback
    3. juxtaposition
    4. motif
    5. plot
    6. point of view
    7. protagonist
    8. symbolism
    9. mood
    10. genre

3) Keep working on your biography research. Your finished essay is due on November 11. This week you should complete your KWO and start your rough, rough drafts (at the very least).  

WITs: minimum one paragraph

Varsity: minimum three paragraphs

Una Voce students should work on platform speeches, IOs, Interps, etc. in lieu of this assignment. Una Voce students must have completed work to submit by November 11, but this "completed work" my certainly be revamped, rewritten, edited, and/or amended as necessary for competition.

Due October 21, 2015

UNA VOCE:
1) Portfolio Copy of Animal Perspective Essay
2) TAG & FLAG
    a) TAG LINES for your affirmative brief's possible rebuttals 
    b) FLAG or BULLET POINT your table of contents  
    c) Be prepared to explain at least 4 tag lines in class.
3) Begin researching your Biography Essay   
4) Vocabulary Words

VARSITY: 
1) Portfolio Copy of Animal Perspective Essay
2) KWO Varsity paragraphs (listed below) and be prepared to re-create them in class using just your KWO.
3) Begin researching your Biography Essay   
4) Vocabulary Words

WITs:1) Portfolio Copy of Animal Perspective Essay
2) KWO the WIT paragraphs (listed below) and be prepared to re-create them in class using just your KWO.
3) Begin researching your Biography Essay   
4) Vocabulary Words

Calendar Notes!

Descriptive Essay, Free Rice 5K, Vocabulary Test, Bio Rough Draft 11-4

Biography Essay final copy target due date 11-11 
Thanksgiving Letter 11-18 

VOCABULARY WORDS:

1. ambiguity
2. cacophony
3. cadence
4. cliche
5. doppelganger
6. fallacy
7. foreshadowing
8. innuendo
9. nemesis
10. refutation

Be sure that you identify part of speech, define, and use in a sentence.

Start your master vocabulary list.

Vocabulary Test on November 4, 2015

Due October 14, 2015 (Fables)

Varsity: ALL Dress-ups, plus Openers #2, #3, #6
Please avoid banned words

WITs: 5 Dress-ups
who/which
"ly" word
QA
SV
because clause

Choose one of these Fables:
The Goose With the Golden Eggs
The Dove and the Ant
The Four Oxen and the Lion
The Dog and the Bone
The Ant and the Grasshopper
Belling the Cat
The Eagle and the Arrow

BRECKA QUOTES

BRECKA
Don’t be afraid to take big steps. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.  David Lloyd Geirge

The kiss of the sun for pardon. The song of the birds for mirth.
One is nearer to God's heart in the garden. Than anywhere else on earth
Dorothy  Francis Gurney  (born: October 4, 1858  - died 1932)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, on your own intelligence do not rely; In all your ways be mindful of him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Remember that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels!  Author Unknown

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives us the test first, the lesson after.  Vernon Law   (born 1030 – American Naseball Player)

PABLO QUOTES

PABLO
“Faith and Reason are like two wings of the human spirit by which is soars to the truth.”  
Pope John Paul II
Evil preaches tolerance until it is dominant and then it tries to silence good.  We need to remember that tolerance is not a Christian virtue.
Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty — these are Christian virtues. And obviously, in a diverse community, tolerance is an important working principle. But it’s never an end itself. In fact, tolerating grave evil within a society is itself a form of serious evil.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

"Fiat justitia, et pereat mundus"
Latin phrase, meaning "Let justice be done, though the world perish".

“Truth is not determined by a majority vote.”    Pope Benedict XVI

We get too soon old and too late smart. Pennsylvania Dutch Proverb

시작이 반이다          
Pronunciation: Shi-jaki bani-da  (Korean idiom)
Literal meaning: Starting is half the task

KAITLYN QUOTES

KAITLYN
“He who is outside the door has already a good part of his journey behind him.  Dutch proverb

“Amor tutti fa uguali”
Italian Proverb meaning “Love makes all men equal.”

“He who never made a mistake never made a discovery.”
Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) English writer

“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:21


“Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do.”  Benjamin Franklin

AUDREY QUOTES

AUDREY
“In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.”
Albert Einstein

“What we truly and earnestly aspire to be, that in some sense we are.”
 Anna Brownell Jameson

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.  2 Timothy 1:7

"Though this be madness, yet there is method in't."
Shakespeare’s play -HAMLET:  Polonius to the audience about Hamlet  (The modern American idiom: There is a method to his madness.)

“Qui craint de souffrir, il souffre déjà de ce qu’il craint”
(He who fears suffering is already suffering that which he fears.)
La Fontaine.

ERIN QUOTES

ERIN
The bee is more honored than other animals, not because she labors, but because she labors for others ~ Saint John Chrysostom

For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. ~Vincent Van Gogh

"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions."
 G.K. Chesterton

“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”
 Benjamin Franklin

“You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.”  St.  Francis de Sales

SANTIAGO QUOTES

SANTIAGO

Faith is the patient seamstress
who mends our torn belief,
who sews the hem of childhood trust
and clips the threads of grief.    Joan Walsh Anglund

“Tolerance is not a Christian value. Charity, justice, mercy, prudence, honesty -- these are Christian values.”   Charles J. Chaput

“Whatever is begun in anger, ends in shame.”    Benjamin Franklin

You can observe a lot by just watching.  - Yogi Berra

“Nothing helps a man to reform like thinking of the past with regret.”  Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot

CARSON QUOTES

CARSON

“Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song.”    Pope John Paul II

“There is no school equal to a decent home and no teacher equal to a virtuous parent.”     Mahatma Gandhi

“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”    Socrates

“Books are the most wonderful friends in the world. When you meet them and pick them up, they are always ready to give you a few ideas. When you put them down, they never get mad; when you take them up again, they seem to enrich you all the more.” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Life Is Worth Living

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
- Henry Ford (1863-1947)

COSSETTE QUOTES

COSSETTE

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.  Leo Tolstoy

A cup of sun,  . . . . a daisy. . . .  a thimble full of  snow.
 A leaf turned red from frost’s first touch; This much of God, I know.
Joan Walsh Anglund

“Can't act. Can't sing. Balding. Can dance a little.”
(Evaluation of Fred Astaire's very first screen test)

“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence.”     Leopold Stokowski

Yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou at with me. Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.    Psalms 23:4

GRACEANNE

GRACEANNE

Heat cannot be separated from fire, or beauty from the eternal.    Dante


We need to jump at opportunities as quickly as we usually jump to conclusions    ~ Ben Franklin

If you do not understand a man you cannot crush him. And if you do understand him, very probably you will not.
--G.K. Chesterton

You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.  - Winnie the Pooh


The wicked are overthrown by their wickedness,
but the just find a refuge in their integrity.  Proverbs 14:32

MAX QUOTES

MAX

“A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”   Joan Walsh Anglund’s “A Cup of Sun,” pg 15 , published in 1967
(This quote was incorrectly attributed to Maya Angelou on a 2015 US forever postage stamp )

Humility is the only thing that no devil can imitate.   St John Climacus

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”   Benjamin Franklin

"When one does not profess Jesus Christ, one professes the worldliness of the devil."   Pope Francis

“In all Debates, let Truth be thy Aim, not Victory.”   Benjamin Franklin,

DIEGO QUOTES

DIEGO

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost’s  Poem: Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

“When you're testing to see how deep water is, never use two feet.”
Benjamin Franklin

Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing.  Albert Schweitzer

“Peace begins with a smile.”     Blessed Mother Teresa

Be on your guard; stands firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.
1 Corinthians 16:13-14

LEXI QUOTES

LEXI

“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
― Fulton J. Sheen

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.   Mother Teresa

You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.   Dr. Seuss

Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.   Mark Twain

If you give the devil a hair, he'll want the whole beard.   Yiddish Proverb

Due October 1, 2015 (Animal Perspective)

Write an essay from the perspective of an animal.

You may use anthropomorphism or personification.

Anthropomorphism is a literary device that can be defined as a technique in which a writer ascribes human traits, ambitions, emotions or entire behavior to animals, non-human beings, natural phenomena or objects. 

Anthropomorphism is also a type of personification that gives human characteristics to non-humans or objects especially animals. However, there is a slight difference between these two. Personification is an act of giving human characteristics to animals or objects to create imagery, while anthropomorphism aims to make an animal or object behave and appear like they are human beings.

Use ten dollar words not ten cent words.