Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power

The film "Mickey Mouse Monopoly" seemed to pull out so many opinions from the class this week and I was wondering what anyone else thought about it? Do you agree that Disney is using it's corperate power to influence children with the negative morals? Or do you think that it's only a movie and kids don't understand so it doesn't matter? Does anyone think that the race, gender and class issues presented in the film were blown out of proportion or are serious issues that need to be discussed further?

Guided Reading Response Questions

As promised, here is the link to the Guided Reading Response questions so that you can cut and

Midterm Marks

The following link will enable you to preview the information that will be sent home Wednesday. Please keep in mind that marks can still fluctuate a great deal as more and more pieces are added to the assessment puzzle.



CLICK HERE FOR A COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS LOOK AT THE MIDTERM REPORTS

Does anybody think that Iago is secretly in love with Desse? He wants to take out the competition so he can have her for himself.

- Eduardo

Etymology Lesson: Ruthless

Some synonyms include merciless, pitiless, cruel, unmerciful, remorseless, relentless, heartless, grim, unrelenting, uncharitable, and hard-hearted.

If you were to say someone is ruthless, it would be referring to their lack of pity or their harsh and cruel demeanor.

The word ruthless dates back to early 14th century. It comes from the late 12th century term reuth which refers to pity and compassion. The word reuth was formed from reuwen, "To rue" on the model of truth.

Ruthful

The word ruthful was used during the 13th century, but has since fallen out of modern use and is almost exclusively used as a deliberate archaism.

An excerpt from 'Shakespeare's' (Shakespeare Apocrypha) Locrine exemplifying the use of ruthful

Sab. What doleful sight, what ruthful spectacle, Hath Fortune offered to my hapless heart ? My father slain with such a fatal sword ! —My mother murdered by a mortal wound !

In other words, the death of his mother and father is a pitiful and sorrowful event or sight.

'To rue on the model of truth'

The verb rue is used in place of sorrow, regret, or sadness associated with some wrong done or some disappointment.

William Shakespeare

Hi guys, its Omar. I was wondering why is that Shakespeare's plays usually end up tragically or in a way he makes the evil characters in his plays pretty obvious and the main one ignorant. For example, wasn't pretty obvious what are Iagos intention or in Macbeth isn't lady Macbeth or the witches pretty obvious in their actions too, but still the main characters will suffer a tragic ending without them thinking. like Why? Thanks :)

Poetry..

Hi guys, its Henry. I really liked the poem presentations and the amount of positive participation from the class today. I just have a question, can anybody help? Can anybody ever know what the authors really mean in their themes and symbolism? For example, in todays poems many people had suggestions of what they may have ment. I just think of something that makes sense to me. Some themes and symbols are pretty obvious, but others not so much. How can one know what they really mean, especially if the authors are dead? It just gives me a headache when I'm reading something and I'm not sure what it is supposed to mean. I make up something that makes sense, but how am I supposed to know that, that is what the author is trying to say.Thanks ^_^

The Flea

Hi guys,
So today we took up a poem called "The Flea" by John Donne. This poem is mainly about love and there are a lot of small details that can be used as symbolism, just like a flea. For the flea, he says, has sucked his blood first, and then her blood, so that now, inside the flea, they are mingled as if there is a connection between the three. His beloved moves to kill the flea, the speaker raises his hand, asking her not to kill the flea, because it has 3 lives in it: his life, her life, and the flea’s own life. The speaker calls his beloved cruel and sudden after she has killed the flea and in a way he is trying to show her that if she slept with him and didn't follow tradition she would lose no more honor than she lost when she killed the flea(as if she is trying to deny him). It's a great poem, but I found it hard to understand when I read it for the first time.

The Course Calendar

In order to keep current on what has been covered and when assignments are due, I have created a Course Calendar (<---- Just Click to access it). I strongly advise you to bookmark the page or to add it to your favorites so that you can retrieve it easily in the future.

The reason I do not advise you to simply return here to access the calendar is that this page will change as more content is added.

A Note on Email Etiquette

I just thought that I would post this proactively, before any one person in particular feels singled out. I keep returning to it because it has proven to be new information for some of my students.

By all means, post any thoughts or queries you might have.

Here is a post from a previous blog on email etiquette.

Poetry & ISU Choices

Given the large enrollment I need to get moving on poetry and the ISU as soon as possible. Don't be alarmed by an early presentation date. It can be really nice to get the poetry presentation out of the way so that it doesn't end up conflicting with one of the other assignments. When marking, I try to take into account the fact that early presenters have less information and experience to work with than students who present later.

Please email ewcwriter@live.ca with your preferred presentation date. I'll get you the closest date possible. If you are looking for poems, try one of the following links which contain poems written by well known poets.

http://www.emule.com/poetry/?page=author_list

http://www.poetry.com/greatestpoems/PoetsCorner.asp

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/

For the ISU... Please bring your ISU novel Monday... I'd like to set aside some independent reading time. You might want to bring several novels and make your choice in class. If you are stuck for ideas, here are a few links that might help:

http://www.cbc.ca/canadareads/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_winners_and_shortlisted_authors_of_the_Booker_Prize_for_Fiction

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotiabank_Giller_Prize

http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Fiction

Remember, the whole point of the ISU is for you to pick a novel that you will enjoy. It is better to choose carefully than quickly.

First Day Handouts

Here are some links to some of the important documents we will be using. My goal will be to update the Course Calendar frequently, so check back here for updates.

Course Overview

Course Calendar

Policies

Plagiarism-See instructor

Notes on Being A Student
Conventions

Engaged Reading Note

Engaged Reading Assignment

Welcome

Welcome Students and Visitors to the online dimension of Mr. Pierce's and Mr. Baty's ENG 4U Summer School classes.

My hope is that this space will create a "home-base" that will help to keep us all organised and also enable us to communicate more effectively.

Please feel free to add your comments or questions.