Virtual Tours of Canterbury Cathedral

I thought you might enjoy taking some tours of the cathedral. Go ahead and get lost in the tours. Make sure you look at the Thomas A Becket section of the first website listed, and make sure you look around on the second website. The second website has some beautiful pictures of the cathedral.

http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~dvess/ids/medieval/canterbury/canterbury.shtml
Go down to the bottom of this page. Look for the section that says "Pictoral Tours." Make sure you look at "the location Becket was martyred."

http://www.request.org.uk/main/churches/tours/canterbury/tour.htm
Click on the different red dots.

Make a comment after you have looked at the websites.

Mr. Lunn

Goin' on a trip

This week we are going to be looking at Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The plot is based on going on a pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is a trip to a religious place. Tell about either a funny childhood trip that you have been on or about a trip you would like to go on some day.

When I turn forty, I am going to Scotland to play The Old Course. A buddy and I have been planning this trip for a year now. I can't wait. Only 8 and 1/2 years ago. We are going to golf every day while our wives go shopping or whatever they want to do. It's going to be awesome.

Stupid Fights

This week we are reading "Get Up and Bar the Door." It is a short ballad about a stupid fight that a married couple gets into. The most common argument that my wife and I get into is based on temperature. I remember driving to Indiana during the winter last year. I believe we were driving for Christmas. Well, about ten minutes into the drive my wife cranked the heat up as high as it would go. Granted she had her winter coat on, and I only wore a t-shirt. Immediately I turned it all the way down. Then she turned it all the way up and I turned it back down. This went on until we were both screaming at each other over the temperature. Stupid right, but my guess is we have all had fights like this. Tell a story about some stupid argument that you have had. Please change the names of the people involved. I'd hate for someone to be embarrassed.

Middle Ages Review

You need to do research over the Middle Ages. Look at the following websites and take notes in your notebook. When you have completed this, leave a comment about what you have read. You are responsible for all of the material on these websites.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/feudal.html

For this website, I'd like you just to read about the Black Death.

http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/plague/05.shtml

I know that this might take longer this week, but the last couple have been pretty short.

Have FUN!!!

Week Four

We talked in class last week about how important revisions are. I wanted to show you a poem entitled "My Papa's Waltz." First read over the poem.

The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother's countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.

Now that you have finished reading the final draft of tghe poem. I'd like you to click on the link to look at the orginal drafts.

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/Virtualit/poetry/cultural_docs/roethke_draft.html

You can look at both drafts. Notice some of the changes that he made. How much thought do you think went into each draft? In the comment section, put your thoughts.

I've looked at the first 17 comments. Make sure you look at the fact that he/she was changed. Minor changes?

Depictions of Grendel

We have talked in class about how we create images of what we read in our heads. I love reading books, and I love watching movies, but many times I am disappointed in movies made from books that I have read. The reason for this dissappointment is the manner in which the director creates characters that I have already created in my head. I realize it is an impossible task, but I cannot help it. Below you will see some different depictions of Grendel. I'd like you to look at the pictures and vote on your favorite one. In your comment, I would like you to give at least one reason that explains why you liked the particular depiction.

Pic 1

Pic 2 Pic 3
Pic 4

Pic 5

Independent Reading Assignment

There are two parts of this week's blog, so please make sure you do both parts. Here I'd like you give the title of your book, along with three sentences summarizing the book. Finally end with your rating of the book.

1 - 10. 10 means "The greatest book ever."

Have fun and read some of the other comments. It will give you ideas for your next Independent Reading Assignment.