Assignment: This course has been designed AROUND the FCAT Test. The English language is complex, that we already know, but how complex is the danger. The statement above implies that this class is all about, and has been planned to reflect, what students should expect on the FCAT. Unfortunately, the complexity of the language is such that the statement may also be saying that the course includes everything EXCEPT what's on the test. Confused? Here's an example of the use of the word "around": Interstate 95 goes through Jacksonville. Interstate 295 is designed for travel around Jacksonville, so that the motorist does not have to go through the city at all. If ENGIIH is designed around FCAT, does that mean it skirts the issues or fails to pinpoint what to expect on the test? Hopefully not. What we have worked on more than anything else is how we THINK, and that is certainly the best starting point for any test. Through your writing and the work we've done, you have accomplished that task, and although you may not always appreciate the way we pick apart the literature, poetry and lyrics that we read, at least you no longer take things merely at face value.

You'll notice that the vocabulary we encounter during the last quarter of the semester will take thought and deep reflection to thoroughly grasp. Analyzing Alanis Morrisette's "Ironic" may have shown you how exacting we must be to understand the concept of irony. We've already learned and discussed four important literary terms: irony, allusion, alliteration and repetition (go back through your notes and journals, commit them to long term memory), now add these (assignment):



assonance

consonance

invective

onomatopoeia

personification

foreshadowing

euphemism

Find them on the internet. Include them in your journals with examples from literature, quotes, lyrics and definitions. Again, this is not merely a prompt, it is an assignment that I will look for in your journals when you turn them in November 5th.

The caricature of Jean Paul Sartre by Leo Martins is copyrighted. Click here to visit the website www.leomartins.com