English Stew: English 11

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

English 11

Begin reading Life of Pi. Your first literary circle (covering pages 3-70) will be on Tuesday, May 15th. Also, tomorrow, there will be a short quiz on short story terms (just review the yellow sheets entitled "Purpose and the Short Story", "Plot and the Short Story" and "Character and the Short Story".

On Friday, we'll have a vocabulary quiz and a brief comma quiz.

Why English Stew?

Why call this blog English Stew? Well, I've always thought that the English language is very much like a stew - thick, hearty, and satisfying! Its ingredients are a mixture of all the other languages and cultures with which it has come into contact over the past 1500 years: from the invading Germanic and Scandinavian tribes to the Norman French conquerors to more far-flung groups met during the age of exploration and colonization. Used by over a billion people every day, it is the international language of commerce. English is also vast - a truly global dish with one of the most extensive vocabularies of all the world's languages. It is estimated that over 25,000 new words are added each year (that's about 70 a day). The power and popularity of our language stems from this dynamism and flexibility. No bite is ever the same!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

English 11

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