HSPE, an invitation, and a recommendation

Dear Parents,
Hope you're enjoying this beautiful spring day!  I just wanted to touch base with you on a couple of items.

First, the Writing and Reading HSPE exams seemed to go very well.  Your students said that they thought the Reading was really easy, and all seemed very positive about the expository and persuasive essays they wrote.  The scores will be back before the school year ends, and I will share them with the students.  The district will also send them to you.

I also wanted to extend an invitation to read along with us as we read Frankenstein. If you haven't ever read it, or haven't read it in years, I think you'll be surprised by its power, its themes, and its connections to today.  It's in my Top 5 Books of All Time list :-).

You can form your own private book club with your son or daughter and have a great reason for long discussions--I'm sure that he or she will love extended time with Mom or Dad :-).  It's a great excuse to talk and will certainly help your son or daughter to understand and enjoy the book.

Here is the reading schedule:
March 25-28         Letters 1-4
March 29-30         Chapters 1-3
March 31-April 1   Chapters 4-8
April 11-12            Chapters 9-13
April 13-14            Chapters 14-18
April 15-18            Chapters 19-24

We will focusing on analyzing diction as we read it--in other words, what specific word choices did Shelley use to describe a character?  What was she trying to show with that word choice?

Finally, I wanted you to know that I saw "Of Mice and Men" (John Steinbeck) at the Seattle Repertory Theater last night, and you might want to take your son/daughter.  It's a famous part of the American literary canon, and I would guess that you probably read it in high school--I know that I did.  Students in our regular American Expressions classes read it here, but AP Literature students do not.  Many of the Pre-APers have already read it on their own.  Student tickets are only $12 (adults are quite a bit more, but I think it's in the Entertainment book), and it might be an interesting play for you and your son/daughter to attend.  However, I did want to warn you that there is profanity--quite a bit--and it's very, very dark.  I found it hard to watch, even harder than reading it, and my 26-year-old daughter was beside me with tears streaming down her face at the end.  It's very powerful with amazing acting, but it's so bleak that you'll have to use parental discretion as to whether or not your 16-year-old is up to it.  With Japan and Libya and murders on the news, maybe it's too much.  If, however, you think that he/she can handle it, it will definitely stay in your child's memory forever.  It was riveting.

That's all for now.  Again, thanks for sharing your wonderful students--I'm already dreading losing them at the end of the year, as their bright and warm and funny personalities brighten every day.

Brooke Dillon