my appreciation for smart-alecks in all forms

I've been working on a poetry unit lesson on sonnets for when we go back to school (ugh!). As I was looking through some of Shakespeare's Sonnets, I ran across this one which I've always loved and thought that I would share it here with you!

"My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak,--yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks, treads on the ground;
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

There is no real point in using it to demonstrate any aspect of the Shakespearean Sonnet to my students because they just wouldn't get it (ugh!), but I wanted to post it here in the believe that my average reader might be a little ahead of my dear repeater freshmen!

Help! Help!

Ok, I need your help! I don't often ask anything of you, dear reader, so in this you MUST indulge me!! Alright, now that I've declared my need in glaringly dramatic fashion, I shall humbly present my request. What novels do you remember reading (and liking) in high school and why? I will finally be teaching full-time starting in January and the unit I start with is "the novel." I'll be teaching regular freshman English classes and the kids in there are predominantly 1) male, and 2) completely uninterested in literature. As I am an almost 32-year-old woman who loves literature, I'm having a little difficulty coming up with novels that they might possibly be interested in reading. I doubt that we'll have time to read more than one novel (I may do a class novel and have them pick their own for a second novel if time allows) and I have a few ideas that would be both convenient and obvious picks for a 9th grade novel assignment, but I thought I'd throw it out to you just in case you had some great ideas! So, let's hear it!! Thanks for your help!!

Wise words from Currier Bell

As I am an English teacher on occasion, I do enjoy a good literary classic every now and again. I spent my summer reading, for the most part, pure junk. Since school started and I wasn't doing any thing other than babysitting semi-functioning middle schoolers, I thought I'd delve into something challenging; something that I've always wanted to read but was never assigned. I had a fine at the public library, so I decided to search my own shelves for this heretofore undiscovered (by me) literary classic. I eventually decided on Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. With my copy coming in at just over 500 pages, it's always seemed a daunting task, but as I wasn't being daunted by anything else at the moment, I thought I'd give it a try. I won't give a synopsis of the novel, but if you're interested in the storyline, you can check out the Sparknotes for the story here.

I don't typically read novels with a highlighter unless I'm preparing to teach them, but the wisdom of this particular passage really struck me, so I thought I'd post it here:

Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I might break them, what would be their worth?

Isn't that a good quote?! I'm a fan of good quotes and I'm always excited when I discover one on my own. The book was (surprisingly) really good and not hard to read at all. I highly recommend it!



...and in case you're wondering, Currier Bell was Charlotte Bronte's pen name.



...and in case you're keeping track, I am trying to use the word heretofore in as many posts as I can, just for fun!