Thursday, October 13, 2011

Shakespeare and Doctor Who

http://theshakespeareblog.com/2011/09/shakespeare-and-doctor-who/

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

SIUE Dr. Martin Luther King Writing Contest

http://www.siue.edu/kimmel%20/awards/pdf/MLK_High_School_Visua_Arts_2011-2012.pdf

Monday, September 26, 2011

If an infinite number of monkeys . . .

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8789894/Monkeys-at-typewriters-close-to-reproducing-Shakespeare.html

Friday, September 16, 2011

What a Piece of Work Man Is?

Great article on the importance of the Bard of Avon to our modern day language.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/09/15/140520535/things-we-say-today-and-owe-to-shakespeare?sc=fb&cc=fp

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Chesterfield Writing Contest

http://chesterfieldarts.org/events/literary

Chesterfield Arts Presents its Third Annual High School Writing Contest:

Phyllis Corbet Writing Contest for High-School Writers of Poetry and Short Fiction

“The 16 Challenge”

Eligibility: The contest is open to high school students in grades 9 through 12 who (a) live in Chesterfield, MO, or (b) go to school in Chesterfield, MO, or (c) attend any Parkway or Rockwood school, or (d) are members of Chesterfield Arts.

Deadline for entries: 5:00 PM, November 12, 2011
Cash Prizes: First Place $150, Second Place $100, Third Place $50
Awards Event: Wednesday, December 14, 2011, 7:00-8:30 PM at Chesterfield Arts

For Writers of Fiction: Write and submit a short story of no more than 1,500 words, or six typewritten, double-spaced pages, incorporating all 16 of the words in the “16 Challenge” list below. Words may not be used in the story’s title.

For Writers of Poetry: Write and submit a poem of no more than 40 lines that includes all 16 of the words in the “16 Challenge” list below. Words may be used in any order. Words may not be used in the poem’s title.

trunk

feather

speckled

corsage

zenith

ascendant

impelled

pudding

furlong

diversified

proxy

journeying

television

allure

gaffe

documentary

Submission: Include a cover page with writer’s name, address, telephone, email; parents names, telephone, email; the title of the submitted work, the name of the writer’s school, and the name of the writer’s teacher. Names should not appear on the entries. Mail entries to Chesterfield Arts, c/o Nancy Sparr, 444 Chesterfield Center, Suite 130, Chesterfield, MO 63017, or send a Microsoft Word file attached to an email sent to Nancy Sparr at nancy@chesterfieldarts.org.

Winners are asked to come to the Awards Event and read their winning pieces. Winning poems and stories will be published on the Chesterfield Arts website. If you have questions about the contest, please email Nancy Sparr at Chesterfield arts, or telephone her at (636) 519-1955.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Monday, August 1, 2011

An Interesting Text Adventure Book: Try it out

http://www.apolitical.info/webgame/

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Can a Playground be too Safe?

Here is an interesting article from the New York Times, what do you think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/19/science/19tierney.html?_r=1&smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=SC-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-CAP-071911-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Almost Lost Your Favorite Mistake

The Oxford Comma:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/06/30/137525211/going-going-and-gone-no-the-oxford-comma-is-safe-for-now?sc=fb&cc=fp

Sunday, June 26, 2011

College Application Essay Prompts

Having trouble coming up with an idea for your College Application Essay? Here are a few prompts that might come in handy on that writer's block:

http://www.eduers.com/University/College_Admission_Essay_Topics.html

Friday, May 27, 2011

Support Your Local Bookseller

Check out this website for local bookstores that may just have what you are looking for, whether for school or for fun:

http://www.stlindiebook.com/

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

A few Reminders

1. Don't forget to do your summer reading.

2. Don't forget to see The Taming of the Shrew in Forest Park this summer - it is free!!!

For dates and times check out their website: http://www.shakespearefestivalstlouis.org/

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Writing for the Doctor

I know it is for 9-11 year olds but if you are looking for ideas and you are a sci-fi fan, or a Doctor Who fan, or a Neil Gaiman fan, check out this link:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/news/bulletin_110514_03/How_to_Write_for_the_Doctor

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

The Sad Beautiful Truth Is . . .

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2011/04/19/135508305/the-sad-beautiful-fact-that-were-all-going-to-miss-almost-everything?sc=fb&cc=fp

Winner of the Ship of Fools Poetry Contest: Michael Shaw's "Une nuit au bal de la Fleur de Lis"

Une nuit au bal de la Fleur de Lis

'Twas the night of the gala, the Fleur de Lis Ball

A Catholic tradition since le retour de de Gaulle

But this debutante was across the Biscay

In the Saint-King's city, the western gateway

La Fleur de Lis was no ball ordinary

The rules for admittance would never vary

Only the rich and well-to-do

Could enter the Chase Park vestibule

Apart from the Jewel and the Veiled Prophet

La Fleur de Lis was blessed by the convent

And the abbeys and monasteries adhered to this too

For they received gifts from the Fleur de Lis grooms

Famous men, like Cargill and Drury

Staged famous daughters of grace and purity

For this was the purpose of the Fleur de Lis

'Twas a debutante for all to see

The daughters were heavily primmed and conditioned

For their presentation was an act of submission

To the most holy reverend and to their fathers

Anything else was simply a bother

But on this night there was a beggar

Outside the Chase with no coat or sweater

And it being the month of December

The Saint-King's city gave no pleasant weather

The daughters and fathers paid no heed

To the young beggar's evident need

For money and food; love and provision

The daughters were blind in their submission

Save one daughter; she was a Weber

She could not stand the sight of the beggar

In his destitute state alone in the cold

This Fleur de Lis daughter had a heart of gold

She gave him her frock to fend off the chills

And placed in his hand a bundle of bills

Upon which he thanked her and turned

But Madame Weber would not let him adjourn

"Please, kind sir, I must request

Is there a place where you can rest

Away from the frost-bitten winds of December?

A place to get warm and light a few embers?"

"No," said he, "I have no such place

I am left to wander in disgrace

For there is no place that I can call home

I drift through the city, forever alone"

This gave Miss Weber a spark of inspiration

But this idea could ruin her reputation

She was about to mix the estates

And make the Fleur de Lis grooms irate

"Come," said she, "inside to the ball

You'll be my date, and won't be enthralled

By the treacherous cold that haunts our fair city

The site of your suffering is such a pity"

"No," he said, "it is not my place

To invade an event of such wealth and grace

For I am no more than a poor beggar

Surely I cannot rendezvous with a Weber"

"Nonsense," she spoke, "it is not right

To have nowhere to go on so cold a night

And this will allow all to see

The hypocrisy of the Fleur de Lis"

"How many passed you here upon entrance?

Their ignorance is like a death sentence

For in our submission and vanity

We lost the ball's purpose; charity"

Without room for argumentation

And, to be frank, there was temptation

The beggar and daughter didst proceed

And entered the Chase, awaiting the gleeds

Upon their arrival all eyes were aghast

The beggar was not of the Fleur de Lis caste

"This is not right," didst mutter the grooms

"Is there a beggar in the Chase ballroom?"

Despite these comments of exclusion

There occurred a sort of transfusion

Between the beggar and the wealthy

A dialogue had started, and it was healthy

For the aristocrats had been previously unaware

That the poor in their city needed so much care

Their eyes were opened, listening to the beggar

And all this was due to the love of Miss Weber

Even the archbishop did concede

More could be done to meet the needs

Of the poor in the city, the Western Gateway

He shook the youth's hand, and asked him to stay

Thus the young couple danced through the night

The beggar in his rags, the lady in her white

And all the Fleur de Lis came to believe

What is true is not what we perceive

So to end the tale, I leave thee with this:

Is it not possible to live in bliss?

With lion and lamb, wealthy and poor

Unity and love is what I implore

And for those who search for an idol or star

Miss Weber shows it dost not matter who you are

All are created equal, this we must laud

For there are no classes in the eyes of God

Second Place Winner: Steven Trottier's "Country Home"

Country Home

A two lane highway leads me there

Through fields and farms and earth-kissed air

Through towns so small with yards so neat

Flags wave from poles down each main street

Sunshine warm upon my face

Draws me to this gentle place

Tucked back upon a wooded hill

Down a dirt road lined with daffodil

Giant oaks and hickories

Ruffle leaves into the breeze

Squirrels run and hop and scatter

Through the leaves and trees and matter

Yet calm and quiet fill my heart

Here on this land where love did start

Roots took hold and children grew

Days and months and years just flew

Old ones died and new ones came

Still this land remained the same

A place where hopes and dreams could grow

A plot of ground for seeds to sow

And though my journeys took me away

My thoughts and memories did stay

Here with those souls who touched this land

Where peace and faith and beauty stand

Waiting patiently for those who roam

To someday return and call this home.

3rd Place Winner of the Poetry Contest: Gregory Heimann's "Huerta"

“Huerta”

From Honduran Mission Trip

Smoke billows like the mountain’s breath,

But only flames—

of the hearth,

and of passion.

For life, they reap.

In love, they sing.

With simplicity, they sleep.

Until, nudged by death,

hand joins hand,

and fortitude prevents brokenness.

Community for community,

hospitality for hospitality:

a barter much beyond our own

Which begets and begets the potential for hope.

For poverty, we weep.

Intangibles they keep.

Our culture—it seeps,

and plants the tree of

no good, and evil.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The English Club's Annual "Ship of Fools" Poetry Contest

Please submit your entry by March 31 to Mr. Bergman in room 217 or rbergman@desmet.org

Please do not make it longer than one page, make sure your name, year in school, and email address are posted clearly on the page.

Unlimited Entries

The winner will receive recognition in the Spring Edition of the Scrivener (the student creative writing journal)and a notable prize. Two Honourable Mentions will also be placed along-side the winner in the Scrivener.