Sunday, March 2, 2014

Lessons for Four Weeks, 3 - 28 March 2014


English 1302

Lessons

Spring 2014

 

Week 7, 3 - 7 March 2014

Week 8, 10-14 March 2014

Week 9, 17 – 21 March 2014

And a little of Week 10, 24-28 March

 

3 – 7 March 2014

 

Drama, continued.  A Man for all Seasons: last week you were given your work packets with the test and essay assignment, so carry on with those.  If you finish them and submit them this week, you will have more time to study your chemistry over spring break. 

 

10 – 14 March 2014

 

Spring break, which is inexplicable – what we do here is not nearly as intellectually or physically demanding as an office job.  For people who work for a living there is no such thing as spring break.  Savor the moment.

 

Wise use of leisure time and healthy recreation are worthy and helpful, but a week of idleness does not serve you.  Always follow the Christian concept of work, study, and prayer every day, even if modified for a vacation.  You make real progress with as little as fifteen minutes of effective study (not kinda / sorta being near an open book) each day.  Schedule your study time – suddenly needing to study when called upon to wash the dishes or mow the lawn is soooooooooooooo sophomore.

 

You have no business going to the beach on spring break.  Predators have business there, and it’s not good – no matter how big and bad and tough you are, there is always a group bigger and badder and tougher than you.  Further, Galveston County makes a significant part of its annual budget from naïve spring-breakers who believe a pop-culture script, not the reality.  If a Galveston County deputy feels that because of your proximity you are part of a group indulging in drugs or underage drinking, you join that group in being cuffed, stuffed, and stored for the night in the tank.  You will not be isolated in a nice, quiet cell with time for reading and pondering your mistakes; you will be trying to defend yourself in a large concrete room – the tank – full of large, strange, violent people.  Oh, and the toilet is in the corner, in sight of all.

 

Do you really think some Galveston County justice of the peace is going to believe you?

 

Sometimes a boring week is much better than an exciting one.

 

17 – 21 March 2014

 

Drama, concluded.

 

We will take a look at Charlton Heston’s 1988 version of A Man for all Seasons.  You will also have some in-class time to finish – not to begin – the assignments given to you on the 26th or 27th of February.

 

All work is due this week.  Since the assignments were made two weeks ago, here are some of the many excuses that won’t work (ever):

 

You didn’t tell me about the assignment.

I wasn’t here that day.

Nobody told me.

My computer broke last night.  We worked on it all night; you can ask my mother.

My printer wouldn’t work.

My printer cartridge went out and it was too late to buy another.

My work is in my friend’s pickup truck which he lent to his cousin in Metairie, Louisiana but then it broke down and it’s in a repair shop in Oppelousas so I’ll have it for you next week, okay?

I didn’t understand the assignment.

When you said the assignment was due no later than the 27th, I didn’t think you really meant that.

I don’t have a pen.

But other teachers let me turn in work late.

I had a ballgame / track meet / one-act play / rehearsal.

My family went on a trip, and family is more important than your assignment, so there.

          You didn’t tell me we couldn’t write in pencil.

My family went on a trip, and my computer wouldn’t work in Dallas / Boca Raton / Las Vegas / Breckenridge.

You didn’t tell me that there was anything about the play on the ‘net, including the two film versions available for free.

I have to work, so two weeks were not enough time.

I have problems.

I have issues.

My boyfriend / girlfriend has issues.

My little brother yakked on my work so I’ll have to re-do it.

I lost the assignment sheets; may I have more?  And extra time?

I know the assignment, made over two weeks ago, was due the 27th but I was sick that day so I’m turning it in now, okay?

My pen ran out of ink last night.

I’ve been so worried about the partition of Ukraine that I just couldn’t think about anything else.

My second cousin in Austin had her third baby, and I just had to be there.  Family is more important than your assignment, right?  Or are you against family values?

You didn’t tell me the essay had to be printed.  What’s wrong with turning it in written in ink?  Pen, pencil, computer – you’re confusing me!

 

Mid-term Exam

 

According to the Angelina Calendar, Friday the 21st is the official middle of the term.  We will take our mid-term exam on the week of 24 – 28 March.

 

 

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