Way Late

I did not post in June, as I usually do, comments from my students' end of year surveys, so... better late than never. As a side note, many students every year write on their surveys something about how "off topic" we get in Mr. Chaffee's English class. This always makes me chuckle... We discuss the topics raised by the literature, which is kind of the point of literature. And it is always fun when I can bring the "digression" back around to the work at hand; some of them get this look in their eyes: "Crap! We were on topic the whole time!" Besides, without digression, Byron would have been lost. Anyway, here is a sampling of the wit and wisdom of my English students, and as always my comments are in (     ).

What was your favorite work we read in this class and why?
- "The Masque of the Red Death;" it had a lot of imagery and was about death which I enjoy. (Then Poe is for you!)
- The Crucible, because it was the most interesting. Everyone fought with each other and 90% of the characters died. The survivors were psychos.
- I enjoyed Huckleberry Finn because of the anarchist sentiments.
- The Great Gatsby, because I liked hearing about rich people and their problems.

What was your least favorite work this year and why?
- The Crucible was my least favorite work because everyone took the word of a liar and people who didn't need to die, did. (Pretty realistic, no?)
- I did not like poetry because the poems made you really have to think about what the poet is trying to say. (It's no fair when you have to think.)
- Short stories and poetry are never that lit. (This student made a note that she would be looking for this on my blog. Well, here it is. Hope it's "lit.")
- A Separate Peace because the story was told by a horrible character.

What did you like most about English class?
- Your jokes or when you sniff markers while waiting for us to respond. (Sadly, the markers are nontoxic.)
- Mr. Chaffee's sarcasm. (It's always flowing.)
- I like how we were given more freedom in deciding what to write about.

What are one or two things you learned in this class?
- that Poe married his cousin which isn't apparently incest
- You need to work to pass.
- Mostly how books are better (than movies) and how to use swear words correctly. (Glad I could help.)
- There is more to novels than just the plot and the endings. There's lessons in between the lines that teach the reader universal ideas.
- When to be serious and when to not always be serious.
- That some books can be good you just have to sit down and read it.
- I really have no clue. I'm prolly gonna fail college.
- ... the importance of time management.
- Sometimes you have to suck it up and read really boring literature to get good grades.
- That writers have a very bad view on society generally and that they harness that view very artistically.
- Two and a half pages does not count as three. And no pictures for titles.
- Sparknotes = bad    Book = good
- What I learned in English 101 was (That was it. Glad I made an impact.)
- Taking pictures of pages in a textbook is way better and easier than taking the textbook home.
- I learned that teachers are allowed to swear to the students as long as they say "pardon my French" first. (I don't remember that lesson. Never happened.)

Did the teacher give you enough feedback on papers? Explain.
- I think you gave me the perfect amount of feedback; not enough to make me cry but enough to make me grow as a writer.
- Yes, there was plenty of green ink on my papers.

On a scale of one to ten, how hard was this class? Explain.
- 2; I just didn't bother to do my work. (I noticed.)

On a scale of one to ten, how much effort did you put into this class and why?
- 6; you've met me, I think you know why

Do you think you became a better writer this year? Explain.
- I certainly learned that I write better when I'm writing about topics that interest me.
- I definitely became a better writer because I was able to write about things I care about. (A pattern develops.)
- Yes, because each new paper's rough draft had less green ink and I didn't struggle as much.

(College English only) Which of the six papers was the hardest to write and why?
- The reflection paper was the hardest because we had to go back and pretend our essays had improved from the beginning of the year.

Is there anything else you would like to say about any topic whatsoever?
- No there is not, but I will say everything pretty much connects to Gatsby. (So, no, but yes.)
- Procrastination is a cruel, cruel mistress, and if you get in bed with her you will catch her disease and it will kill you. (Uh... Very vivid.)
- Keep using The Scarlet Letter. Those kids must suffer as we did. (Hey! I like that book.)

That is all for now. As papers start rolling in there will be more posts.

J

Excitement!

It has been a busy spring and I have not updated in a while. Two quick posts before summer. Here is the first. The other will be my favorite: comments from end of the year surveys. As always, these are from student work and my comments are in (   ).

- Macbeth started to hallucentant about Banquo.
- The blizzard snows in the group of Outcasts and leaves them… a more difficult ability to produce a fire.
- The fight… made a sense of his own manhood.
- …the man laughs because his pride is too high to conquer.
- Realism is a style of writing based off of realism. (That is a tight circle of logic you have there.)
- The man does not take warning to the old man.
- She starts buying thighs that make herself happy. (I can relate?)
- Towards the being of the book…
- Illegal immigrates is an issue that the country faces by them taking jobs and making prices of taxes higher for making them have to protect the border and wall.
- The woman… begins to go crazy in her own head. (As opposed to?)
- …a soldier never are always struggles…
- The beginning of every stanza begins the same way.
- In the second stanza of this poem the author makes imagery relations to the reader. (I am a little uncomfortable.)
- Very often the detective is not the crime maker.
- Jack has gone rouge. (And a little mascara as well.)
- This story is made to make the reader think it someone else who committed the murder when in reality it’s someone totally different. (Someone different from someone else. Got it.)
- …a young woman has come up dead.
- …which riots up all the people.
- Finny was never hatred toward anyone.
- Finny still confines in Gene.
- Zeena was always watching over them in disapprovement.
- …nor does he have the money to buy or rent a house someone where else.
- The animosity Gene felts toward Phineas…
- …in exchange for food and board. (No room, though, just double the food.)
- The trees represent her excitement to happy again.

Summer represents my excitement to happy again!

J

Midterms Are Over...

Last week was midterms, and we gave the English Regents to our juniors; however, I am forbidden from sharing sentences from student responses on state standardized tests. It's a shame, because when you force students to write an essay and give them very little time to do it, they can quite accidentally come up with some great unintentional comedy. Anyway, I do have a least small collection of fun to share from papers and such. All of these sentences are from student work, and as always, my comments are in (   ).

In the category of life after death:
- (Desdemona said) she loved Othello, even after he killed her.
- Even when Othello kills her, she says that it is her fault.

- Evidence to support my claim is...
- ... the best solution is looked... (This made no more sense in context.)
- Yes, I enjoyed the play because It was Enjoyable.
- The play was VERY dramatic. (A dramatic play? Get out!)
- This means that video games should be more acceptive of video games.
- People should start trying out video games for themselves as there is mainly positive that people get out of it. (They don't help you write good, I see.)
- When he was trialed...
- He is helps Jim escape slavery.
- Jim is a black man who cares for and has feeling towards each other. (Somebody is missing here.)
- My best grades were on a paper about my life, something I'm very interested in.
- On the first day of school walking into English 101 I remember thinking by the end of this semester I'll be able to write good. (And now it is the end of the semester, and...)
- Other writing skills have fallen quality. (I'll say.)
- ... not found naturally in nature.
- His insanity is just just is worse as the story goes on. (And how is your insanity coming?)
- Fatherhood was not a strong suit in Pap's lifestyle.
- Huck develops an understanding for the personage of Jim.
- Huck is more human than he thought Jim was. (And I'm not as think as you drunk I am.)
- The improvements in my writing have been immensely. (Not immensely enough.)

Three Paper Titles
- Video Games are Awesome and Chaffeedawg Is A God (My ego is big enough, thank you.)
- A Summary of My Lack of Motivation To Write Essays (You're motivated to write titles though.)
- mR. Café Teached Me how 2 Writ Goodly (I did indeed. So proud.)

That is it for now. Enjoy the long winter!

J