Pre-University: listening (Poetry)

In class, we will be discussing figurative language in poetry. One example is the poem “Litany” by former U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins. We will listen to Collins performing this program on the radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion on April 20, 2002.

Garrison Keillor talks to Billy Collins (1:10:45)

What types of figurative language does Collins use in “Litany”? (Similes, metaphors, vivid imagery?)

How many things does the reader compare his lover to positively? (“You are…”) How many things are compared to him or her negatively? (“You are not…”)

Intermediate: Lab 5 (‘Over the Rainbow’)

This is an internet listening lab about a song from the famous 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz. In this movie, a girl who lives on a boring, dusty Kansas farm is transported to a magical land “over the rainbow.” One main idea of the movie is about home.

Here are some pages you can look at for more information about the movie:

• Wizard of Oz profile (IMDb)
• 1939 trailer (advertisement) for The Wizard of Oz
• Lyrics (words) to the song “Over the Rainbow”
• Watch “Over the Rainbow” from the movie

To start your homework, go to the NPR story page:

‘No Place Like Home’ Series: ‘Over the Rainbow’

Then answer the questions on the handout. (You will receive the handout in class Monday.) Bring the handout with your answers to class on Friday, February 29.

Intermediate: Listening practice (Advice)

In class, we will listen to an NPR radio story about holiday disasters. The story is called

Entertaining Disasters

with advice columnist Amy Dickinson.

Intermediate: Lab 4 (Future Inventions)

In Chapter 7, we are talking about inventions. Before inventions are made and used by many people, they have to be imagined. Scientists, fiction writers, and other people have been imagining inventions for hundreds of years. Some of the technology we use today was imagined a very long time ago. For example, in the 1800s, the writer Jules Verne predicted inventions we use today, like air conditioning, television, helicopters, and submarines.

What inventions do you think we will see in our future? Write a paragraph describing a future invention.

The invention can be…

• something that is being developed now, but is not finished (example: a knee brace that can power your mp3 player)
• something from science fiction
• something from real science
• something from your own imagination
• about any of the topics on page 49, or another topic

Your paragraph should…

• have a topic sentence
• use future tense (“will”)
• tell the name of the invention, what it does, and why we need it

If you need ideas, here are some resources:

• Top 10 Inventions Needed
• Great Inventions of the Next Fifty Years
• Totally Absurd Inventions – silly inventions like the Doggie Umbrella
• Timeline of Science Fiction Inventions like Robot Mice cleaners

 

Post your paragraph on the Wiki page (Wiki Work > Future Inventions).

Pre-University: Lab 4 (Vocal Impressions)

For this lab assignment, you need a computer with internet access and an audio player.

1. Go to NPR.org and search “vocal impressions” or follow this link: “Vocal Impressions: Hearing Voices, Round 10”

2. Read the instructions and listen to the voices for Eartha Kitt, Joni Mitchell, Mike Tyson, and Vince Vaughn.

3. Think of words, phrases, or a sentence or two that you think describe each of these voices.

Remember the descriptive strategies we talked about in class: try to appeal to the senses: smell, taste, sight and touch as well as hearing. You can compare the voices to things that are not really like a sound.

Then you need to do two things:

a) Email your description to me at the address I gave you in class. In the subject line, put “Lab 4: Vocal Impressions from (your name)”

b) Then go to the submission page by clicking the link “Send us your descriptions.”

4. Type your descriptions in and fill out the personal information. Your local NPR station is KUAR. Submit the form.

5. In your descriptions, be sure to identify the name of the person you are describing, before you begin each description. Complete sentences are better than just lists of words.

This assignment is due Friday, February 22. That means I must receive your email before­ the beginning of class (8:00 a.m.) that day.