AP Reading Assignments, 10/30 - 11/3

For Thursday, October 30
"Explaining with the Help of Description" (Patterns of Exposition, p. 393) --> Notes, no RN Entry
G. Simpson, "The War Room at Bellevue" (PE, 403) --> RN Entry

For Friday, October 31
E. B. White, "Once More to the Lake" (PE, 424) --> RN Entry
Pay close attention to this one. Read it twice, carefully.

More on History of Interracial Marriage

Here, Gallup provides data from 1958 to 2007.

And here's a website dedicated to Loving Day, named 1967 Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which ruled that restricting interracial marriage was unconstitutional.

And here's a quote from the proposed constitutional amendment that would have prohibited interracial marriage:

"That intermarriage between negroes or persons of color and Caucasians or any other character of persons within the United States or any territory under their jurisdiction, is forever prohibited; and the term 'negro or person of color,' as here employed, shall be held to mean any and all persons of African descent or having any trace of African or negro blood. "Congressional Record, 62nd Congress, 3rd session, Dec. 11, 1912. Vol 49, p. 502

Perspectives: In-Class Writing

As the opening title comes on screen in part two of Beyond the Color Line, we have a group of several children in Chicago. They're all talking to the camera at once, but we can clearly hear one boy repeating that although he had lived in one of the Robert Taylor homes, "Now I live in a house." We get a glimpse of several public housing communities in Chicago, and what the surrounding communities are like. One young man in particular discusses the dilemma of working a low-wage job clear across town, or earning far more by selling drugs. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Harvard professor conducting the interviews, tells us that he's not sure he could've made it if he'd grown up in such a community, because of "the sheer weight of poverty."

In a short essay of at least four good paragraphs, address how some of the following would affect the way a person might think about him/herself:

• where a person lives


• who raised the person


• what the person's parents/guardians do for a living


• what job the person holds


• what the neighborhood looks like


• the presence of drugs in the home or neighborhood


• the presence of violence in the home or neighborhood

Make it 1-1/2 spaces, Times New Roman, 12-point.

Assignment: AP Lang & Comp

I've mentioned before, I think, that Andrew Sullivan is my favorite blogger. In the tradition of some of the Orwell-inspired "Why I Write" essays, Sullivan has written an essay in the new Atlantic Monthly entitled "Why I Blog." On his blog today, he had this to say about the essay:

If you feel me working up to another celebration of Montaigne, you're not wrong.

One other thing. The essay is a defense and celebration of blogging - but not as a replacement for long-form writing or in-depth journalism. In fact, I think blogging makes the long, deep take more important in our ADD culture.

Please read it and write a notebook entry.

Perspectives: Blog Assignment #3

It's time to start thinking about what kind of blog you want to create. There will be more specifics later, but here are some guidelines:

1. It's best to choose between 1-4 topics that you're really interested in, topics that you enjoy thinking about and talking about with others, even if you've never written or read about them.
2. The topics don't have to be related to one another. If you want to write about fashion, politics, and the latest installment of the Twilight series, go for it.
3. Topics might seem very specific and idiosyncratic. There are no bad topics. Except...
4. Remember that this is a school assignment, so we have to follow similar rules of conduct online to those we would follow in the classroom. So if the topic isn't appropriate for school, best to leave it out.
5. You can sometimes write about things in your life, but you'll want to avoid specifics when possible. Remember that other people will be able to access your blog and read your posts, and although you won't be posting under your real name, I'll have a list of who's who, others at Kennedy can probably figure out which blog belongs to which student.

So your job today is to begin thinking about what you'd be interested in writing about. What do you like to do and think about when you have free time? What interests might you follow into a career? What blogs did you find at the beginning of the term, that you might use as a model for your own blog?

The Assignment: By the time you come in tomorrow, write at least one good paragraph apiece on three topics you might like to write about. For each, explain what sorts of things you would talk about in your posts. This should be typed and 1-1/2 spaced.