Thinking about the test.

So far, I have written about thirty multiple choice questions and about ten short answer.  I am thinking that it would be appropriate to have a matching section as well.  Actually, I think a matching section may make your lives less stressful.  The multiple choice are difficult to write without getting overly detail oriented.  I am trying to be fair.  My goal has always been to keep everyone accountable for reading this book that will play such an important part in our coursework this summer and to stress the importance of close, critical reading.  Hopefully, most of you are finished by now.  My advice: review, review, review.  Ask yourself which items (people, events, etc.) are repeated throughout the text.  Identify what you believe to be significant events in the history and "biography' of cancer.  Identify significant terms.  Know the definitions of those terms.  I am not talking vocabulary words as much as concepts, discoveries, methods in the history, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

This is not an easy test.  470 pages is a lot of text to master.  Know that most of our assessments will not be like this one, but I have not found another way to keep students accountable for the summer reading, and so we will take this test.  The very first day.  And it will be difficult.  So, prepare yourself.

Having said all of that, everyone is capable of getting an "A" in AP Lang if you are willing to work hard and do your best to improve.

It has been my pleasure to read the comments that have been posted this summer and I am very excited about our work together this year.  Have I said this yet?  I love teaching AP Lang.  I think it is one of the most important courses you can take to determine your future success in all other classes.  You must have a facility with language in order to avoid the glass ceiling.  You must know how to articulate your ideas in all other disciplines and in your personal life.

I will be checking the blog periodically throughout the weekend to answer your questions, if I can.

Sincerely,
Mrs. McAllister

P. 363

"Varmus and Bishop were awarded the nobel Prize for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes in 1989.  At the banquet in Stockholm, Varmus, recalling his former life as a student of literature, read lines from the epic poem Beowulf, recapitulating slaying the dragon in that story: 'We have not slain our enemy, the cancer cell, or figuratively torn the limbs from his body,' Varmus said.  'In our adventures, we have only seen our monster more clearly and describe his scales and fangs in new ways--ways that reveal a cancer cell to be, like Grendel, a distorted version of our normal selves.'"

"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book."  -John Green, The Fault In Our Stars.


"Monsters make such interesting people." -Bugs Bunny

Who says there are no such things as monsters?  I say they are everywhere. But we are not powerless.  We have an incredibly powerful weapon with which to fight each and every one.  That weapon is language.  "A word after a word after a word is power."- Margaret Atwood.

I cannot wait to get started on this book with all of you on Sept. 4.  We are going to do so much with it.  There is so much to learn from what Mukherjee has synthesized and the ways in which he has chosen to do so.  There is much to emulate.  Again, I can't wait.

"A unitary cause" p.337

"Our encounter with cancer has rounded us off; it has smoothed and polished us like river rocks."

Some of you may know Mrs. Engelhardt.  All of you--unless you were absent on the day of the "cancer presentations" last year--saw her speak about her experiences in the chemo ward at Lemmen-Holton. I have gone with her to several appointments when she has received the results of her scans.  I have met her oncologist.  If you've gotta have an oncologist, he's a nice guy to have to deal with.  But, every time I leave his office, I wonder  how he does what he does every day.  (He's read Emperor, by the way.  Yes, I asked.) 

This section, paired with the section on 307 about Thomas Lynch, gives me insight into my wonderment above.  Like teaching, or any other profession, it is an art and a science.  Dr. Brinker, who is Mrs. Engelhardt's oncologist, reminds me of Rikki Tikki Tavi, the mongoose from Kipling's story.  Mostly, it's his eyes.  But, it's also the way he laid out the plan for treatment.  The swishing sound that Rikki's bottle brush tail made when he would encounter a cobra kept entering my mind.  He was very matter-of-fact: here's how we are going to "corral" (his term) this.  This is what we are going to next, and then, best case scenario, this is the outcome.  All of this explanation while Mrs. Engelhardt and I are sitting on the edge of our seats. He does this all day long.  Delivers results, lays out options while people sit in the plastic chairs contemplating life, death and all of its implications for loved ones, etc.  Important work.

I like the fact that Mukherjee includes this section about the ways in which his experience has changed him and his fellows.  I hope it's real.  I like the fact that he takes time to reflect on his experiences.  Metacognition and reflection are crucial for growth and learning.   We will do a lot of this in AP Lang.

"Counting Cancer"

Let's hear from you if you loved this chapter.

Golden Line:  "Statistics," the journalist Paul Brodeur once wrote, "are human beings with the tears wiped off" (267).

How is it already August 14?

So, I don't know if any of you were aware of this, but just before the school year starts, teachers have these anxiety-fueled nightmares.  Let me describe the one I had last night.  I showed up on the first day.  All of you were there and I felt like Fouch.  You were all about three feet taller than me.  Strange.  I know.  I had no lesson plan, no AP Lang Summer Reading Test and I just stood in front of the chaotic classroom as you all just kind of wandered in and out at will.  Sometimes, when I have these dreams, I can't speak above a whisper.   I'll be screaming for control at the top of my lungs and no one will be able to hear me. It's really quite awful.  I used to have the same kinds of dreams when I was a waitress only they involved overcrowded tables, demanding customers and my own inability to move faster than a turtle.  So, it was basically the same dream :)  By the way, Fouch is sitting next to me at a teacher meeting and suggested that I include him in the above comparison.  He is a great guy.  If any of you have him this year, be sure to be extra cooperative.

So, I think the anxiety is coming from the fact that I abandoned all of you in favor of completing coursework that would allow me to remain your teacher this fall.  I wasn't just kayaking.

So, now we are back at it and I'm wondering where everyone is in the book.  If just one person could post a comment and tell me where you are in the book, I will pick up these posts there and we can continue in our somewhat lop-sided participation in this "book study." It's okay.  It's summer.  I know.

So, what page are you on?  Anyone? Anyone?  Buehler?

So, if I've got this figured out correctly

and you've been maintaining the seven page per day rule, well, then-- by golly--you are on page 263 or so.  This means that you are more than half way finished!!!!  That has to feel good.

So, all along we've been talking about structure a bit.  What are your thoughts about the way Mukherjee has organized the text?  Are there any patterns that are becoming more apparent to you?

McAllister, where have you been?

It has been kind of silent on this end of the discussion this week. It won't be so silent next week, I promise. .Here's something you can do in the meantime.  Log into your Forest Hills GMAIL account and add the "voice comments" extension.  To do this, you must use Google Chrome.  Add the app, "Voice Comments."  We will be using this during the school year  I think it is going to be a great way for me to provide you with even more feedback on your writing.  If you can't figure out how to add the app at this time, don't worry.  We will be going how over the basics of the app at the beginning of the school year.

Until I get back to our book, keep on reading.  My next post will pick up at the page where we are supposed to be according to our seven page per day commitment.

I can't believe it is August.

Sincerely,
Mrs. McAllister