Proposed Guys in Lit jerseys

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Please email Mr. Cheng at frecheng@edina.k12.mn.us with feedback on whether you would like to purchase T-shirts for students in the Guys in Lit class of 2012.

Mr. Cheng has hockey fever!

First thing's first. Here is how you properly cite a TV show in MLA format:

"Name of episode." Name of program. Network. Station, city. Date of broadcast.

Now, since this clip came from a locally-produced news program, there is no need to cite the network (which would have been NBC); nor is there a name for the episode, since news shows don't name their episodes. Sometimes news programs do title their segments, so if that information had been available, I would have listed it first. Since it wasn't, I am beginning with the name of the program; thus, the proper citation for this news clip would be as follows:

KARE 11 News at 10. KARE, Minneapolis. 26 Feb. 2009.

Now, contrary to popular belief, I do not have all of this information stored away in my brain as if I am some kind of MLA-formatting Rain Man ("Yeah... definitely alphabetize by author's last name... ten minutes to Wapner" - that's a really OLD reference). I looked it up on the Purdue Online Writing Lab that I am frequently recommending to you. When I don't know how to do one of these things, I look it up, just as I expect you guys to. It's really not as hard as it might seem. There are plenty of clear instructions and examples, and if you're not sure, you can always take a stab at it and then ask me to check it over for you.

On to the hockey fever part. Man, some of you EHS kids can skate! From Feb. 20 to Feb. 27, I attended three high school hockey games and listened to another online. I have plans to attend another later today (Feb. 28). I generally like sports, enjoy watching the occasional NHL game, and really got into some of the playoff runs of the Wild and late-great North Stars teams, but I never understood the high school hockey tournament hype in Minnesota. Until this week.

It really helps to know some of the players on the team. From EHS's section champion / state tournament girls hockey team, I have two students. I'd love to name them, but in the interest of privacy, I'll just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that they both were involved in scoring plays in the quarter- and semi-final games. It's been a thrill to watch them shine in areas outside the classroom. I'm so proud of these kids; I can only imagine how their parents feel.

Anyway, if you haven't watched it yet, the clip is from the channel 11 news of some of the team's highlights from their Thursday afternoon victory. Go Hornets. Guess I'm a cake-eater now : )

I am not a teenaged girl!

Can the Twins get a Cullen to bat cleanup next year? (photo by Peter Sorel)

Yep, I saw "Twilight" (and Mitch C. and Cullen N. from 1st hour) last night at the Southdale AMC Theater. I actually enjoyed it, though my expectations were fairly low. I have spent the last month or so teasing my wife for being a "Twi-mom," and more or less bagging on the swooning of Bella Swann. There were also a few occasions when I laughed out loud at the over-the-top melodrama, as when Bella's eyes went crossed when Edward was sucking her blood at the end to keep her from turning into a vampire. I know it was supposed to be dramatic, but she just looked kind of silly to me. The baseball game scene also felt like a Moutain Dew commercial on steroids. Give the storytellers credit for this, though, they followed the hero's journey quite closely. If you consider the world of the vampires to be a new threshhold that Bella crosses, then the whole story of "Twilight" offers many of the ingredients of the monomyth. For instance, her Belly of the Whale moment is when Edward makes her say "vampire" aloud. Once she acknowledges that she knows who and what he is, there is no turning back. The elixir is when Edward sucks her blood at the end. It is a magical moment that saves her life. Edward himself is a supernatural guide. When Bella survives her near-death experience, she has returned from the land of the dead and become a master of two worlds. There is also reconciliation with the father and a whole bunch of helpers in the whole Cullen family. See? It's not just a bunch of random note-taking. Hollywood really believes in this stuff.

Mr. Cheng says, "Are you not entertained?"

(photo courtesy EW.com; body courtesy Russell Crowe and "Gladiator")

I've heard the grumblings and I understand that The Odyssey is a challenging text. Hey, I didn't have to read the epic poem until my first year of college. But trust me when I say that this translation is much more readable than the one I had to read, and if you give it time, the story will yield many rewards. It's a terrific adventure with many wonderful archetypal elements (we will get into the definition of archetype more in class). We'll spend most of the coming week (Oct. 27-31) practicing strategies to make the poem more comprehensible. Foremost among these strategies is understanding that the poem was intended to be performed for its listeners. Try reading it aloud, and really make a point of understanding how it is to be read. Don't worry so much about the names as you do the pauses and the ebbs and flows of the lines. Imagine being at a campfire and having the story told to you. It can be very rewarding. Just give it a chance, and you might find yourself enjoying it. People have been for nearly 3000 years. (Besides, you don't have a choice : )

Siddhartha Vocab Definitions

Definitions and pronunciations taken from Merriam-Webster online.

ablutions: (noun) \ə-ˈblü-shən, a-\ the washing of one's body or part of it (as in a religious rite); bathing

onerous: (adjective) \ä-nə-rəs, ˈō- \ involving a burden; troublesome

samana: (noun) \sə-'må-nə\ a wandering ascetic in India

exalted: (verb/adjective) \ig-ˈzolt-əd\ raised in rank or power; praised

atman: (noun) \ˈät-mən, -ˌmän\ the innermost essence of each individual; the supreme universal self

asceticism: (noun) \-ˈse-tə-ˌsi-zəm\ practicing strict self-denial

erudition: (noun) \ˌer-ə-ˈdi-shən, ˌer-yə-\extensive knowledge acquired mostly from books; booksmarts

courtesan: (noun) \ˈkor-tə-zən, -ˌzan ˌkor-tə-ˈzan\ a prostitute with courtly, wealthy, or upper class clientele

equanimity: (noun) \ˌē-kwə-ˈni-mə-tē, ˌe-kwə-\evenness of mind, especially under stress; calm, mental balance

engendered: (verb) \in-ˈjen-dər-əd, en-\ caused to exist or develop; produced

ennui: (noun): \ˌän-ˈwē\ weariness or disssatisfaction; boredom

expiation: (noun) \ˌek-spē-ˈā-shən\ the act of atoning; making up for something

pallid: (adjective) \ˈpa-ləd\ lacking in color; unlively

pyre: (noun) \ˈpī(-ə)r\ a combustible heap for burning (usually for a funeral)

samsara: (noun) \səm-ˈsär-ə\indefinitely repeated cycles of birth, misery, and death caused by karma

exhortation: (noun)\ˌek-ˌsor-ˈtā-shən, -sər-; ˌeg-ˌzor-, -zər-\ the act of urging; making urgent appeals or warnings

entwined: (verb/adjective) \in-ˈtwīn-əd, en-\ twisted or wrapped together

om: (noun) \ˈōm\ a mantra consisting of one sound in contemplation of ultimate reality

venerable: (adjective) \ˈve-nər(-ə)-bəl, ˈven-rə-bəl\ deserving respect due to age; honored or revered

intrinsic: (adjective) \in-ˈtrin-zik, -ˈtrin(t)-sik\ having internal or built-in value

This is my example for how to post a photo

This is the picture that I created at Simpsonizeme.com.

Let Mr. Cheng POINT you toward Barbara Kingsolver's official website!

http://www.kingsolver.com/home/index.asp